The Lure Of Darkness
by daryllover
Summary: Ashley Salvatore and Kol Mikaelson were drawn to each other the moment they met. Having to face many obstacles, can the two prove that true love can overcome anything or will Ashley be drawn to another Mikaelson? And how will Stefan and Damon react when they realize that their sister has been drawn to the darkness that is the Mikaelsons? Takes place at Season 3, Episode 13
1. Standing Together

**Thanks to anyone who reads this! It means so much. This is my first story so bare with me. It will get off to a slow start but it will get better. Enjoy!**

_Standing Together_

Ashley was sitting in the living room of the boarding house with Stefan. They were both reading writing in their journals but they looked up when Damon walked into the room.

"Put some nice clothes on you two. We're going out," Damon said with a smile.

"Yeah sorry not interested," Stefan remarked back at Damon. Him and Damon had been in an ongoing fight over Elena.

"Wait, out where?" Ashley asked curiously.

" Well, Elijah and I have scheduled a very old-fashioned sit down with Klaus," Damon explained.

"Oh no. I'm so not going," Ashley stated knowing that Klaus has fancied her since the moment they met.

"Yeah. Klaus won't make a deal Damon," Stefan said.

"He doesn't have to. All we need to do is buy Bonnie and her mom some time to get the top off the coffin," Damon stated.

"So that's your plan? Stall Klaus? And you release an Original to help you out?" Stefan skeptically asked.

"Actually Stefan, undaggering Elijah might have been a smart idea. After what Klaus did to him, he's in vengeance mode. It's perfect," Ashley backed Damon up.

"I love it when I'm right," Damon said as he grinned.

"There's nothing smart about trusting Elijah. He screwed us over the last time he was going to help us kill Klaus," Stefan explained obviously not impressed by Damon's idea.

"Yeah and the way you've been acting I trust him just as much as I trust you," Damon snarled back at Stefan.

"Well guess that goes both ways doesn't it?" Stefan remarked while sending a glare at Damon.

"Stefan, come on. This has nothing to do with Damon kissing Elena," Ashley sighed getting tired of her family always being at odds.

"Just remember, if it wasn't for Klaus you wouldn't have become such a dick and that kiss never would've happened. So get ready and get happy. We're going to negotiate a fake truce and I don't want your attitude screwing it up," Damon kind of snapped and walked out of the room.

"Can you believe him?" Stefan asked Ashley hoping she'd be on his side. Ashley had been indifferent in the whole situation since he came back to Mystic Falls from his summer trip with Klaus.

"Stefan, don't do this. Don't tear me between you two. Look, both of you have done some very stupid stuff over the past few days but do not put me in the position that Elena is in. Because I will not choose between you two," Ashley said and walked out of the room

Stefan sighed heavily knowing that he was putting his sister in a tough spot being torn between her brothers again. The three Salvatore siblings got ready and left to go to the Mikaelson's house. Damon knocked on the door and almost immediately the door opened to reveal Elijah standing there.

"Niklaus, our guests have arrived," Elijah stated with a smile.

Elijah politely lets them in and the three Salvatore siblings walked into the dining room with Elijah following them. Klaus was standing by the table and smiled when everyone walked in.

"Ah the Salvatore siblings. What an honor. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized people shall we?" Klaus beamed with amusement.

"I didn't come here to eat Klaus. In fact I didn't wanna come here at all but I was told that I have to so you would hear us out," Stefan bitterly said to Klaus.

"Well we can sit and eat or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. Besides, you Ashley. I wouldn't do that to you," Klaus said with a wink to Ashley much to her dismay; Ashley rolled her eyes already wanting to leave.

"Keep hitting on our sister and the deal will go both ways," Damon stated defending his sister's honor. He honestly hated when any guy gave Ashley attention because he was so protective over her. The fact that Klaus was the one who was swooning over his sister made the blood boil inside of him.

"Very well then. Let's eat," Klaus said with a light chuckle.

They all sit down and start eating except for Stefan who was just staring at the food on his plate.

"You lost your appetite," Klaus said to Stefan.

"Eat. I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home," Damon remarked while looking at Stefan.

"That's the spirit. Isn't this nice? The 5 of us all dining together," Klaus mused and looked at Damon. "Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger out of my brother?"

"Well I know how he felt about you so I figured the more the merrier," Damon smirked while looking between Klaus and Elijah.

"Yes well Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels but we always make it out fine," Klaus smiled at Elijah.

"Kinda like you and Rebekah right? Where is she by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her," Stefan remarked wanting to get under Klaus's skin.

"If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah," Klaus smirked at Stefan knowing that he had just won that round.

"Hey Stef, remember when you killed dad? You might wanna dial down the judgment a little," Damon stated trying to get Stefan to lay off.

"We're here to make a deal Damon. That doesn't mean we have to kiss his ass for 7 courses," Stefan said.

"Yeah well we have a long evening ahead of ourselves," Ashley stated annoyed at Stefan.

"Stefan, where is the lovely Elena tonight?" Elijah asked wanting to change the subject and get things on a calmer level.

"I don't know. Ask Damon," Stefan remarked with attitude; Ashley and Damon glanced at each other clearly agitated by how Stefan was acting.

"I'm sorry. You've missed so much. Uh trouble in paradise," Klaus told Elijah while chuckling.

"One more word about Elena and this dinner is over," Stefan faked smiled at Klaus.

"It's probably best to keep Elena in the do not discuss pile," Ashley stated.

"Agreed," Damon said,

"You're probably right," Klaus agreed and looked at Ashley. "How's the food love?"

"Fine," Ashley answered simply.

"You look very beautiful," Klaus smiled at Ashley.

"Okay seriously. Stop flirting with our sister," Stefan warned Klaus getting mad at his attempts to get under his sister's skin; Klaus just simply smiled.

"I never should have came," Ashley rolled her eyes and looked at Damon.

"Well I'm happy that you did," Damon comforted her by putting his hand on hers.

"So why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" Elijah stated wanting to get the night over with.

"Well it's very simple. Klaus gets his coffin back. In exchange, he and his extended Original family leave town forever and me, Stefan, Ash and Elena live happily ever after," Damon replied with a smile.

"The deal sounds fair brother," Elijah backed up Damon while looking at Klaus.

"I don't think you understand that Elena's doppelganger blood ensures that I will always have hybrids to bite those who oppose me. I will never leave her behind. But say I do leave her behind under your protection. How long until one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how longer until she dies caught between your feuding. You see each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her and that's not true. Gentlemen, the worse thing for Elena Gilbert is the two of you," Klaus lectured; he smirked knowing that Damon and Stefan obviously were bothered by what he just said.

"I'm gonna get some air," Damon stated needing an excuse to leave the room.

"I'll come too," Ashley said.

"I'll deal with this," Elijah stated knowing that he had to come with them as part of the plan.

Ashley, Damon and Elijah walk out and walk into the room with the coffins.

"Are you okay Damon?" Ashley asked him concerned about him.

"Sure. Great. You know what's worse…he's right," Damon sighed.

"He's not right," Ashley said trying to comfort her brother.

"No? You sure?" Damon questioned.

"Yes Damon."

Elijah starts opening the coffins of his siblings and starts pulling out the daggers. Ashley and Damon casually walked around examining the bodies of the Originals who could potentially become a threat to them. When Elijah finished he nodded at Damon and Ashley and the three rejoined Klaus and Stefan in the dining room.

"What do you say Klaus? Time for you to put something on the table. We've made our offer. Now you counter," Damon said.

"Okay. I offer Elena's future happiness. What she needs right now is to be rid of you gentlemen and to fall in love with a human. Maybe that nice blonde football player," Klaus smiled at Elijah.

"Matt Donovan? Really?" Damon asked like it was a bizarre thought.

"Yeah why not? They'll marry and pop out a few beautiful children," Klaus stated.

"And continue the Petrova bloodline. Every few hundred years you'll have a new doppelganger to drain and never run out of hybrids right Klaus?" Ashley remarked.

"Consider it a small return on my investment of her well being. See after you hand me back the coffin, I'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life. You know it's what's best for her. So what do you say Stefan? Do we have a deal?" Klaus asked with a small smile.

"Nice try Klaus but no deal," Stefan refused somewhat shocking Damon and Ashley.

Klaus then grows agitated and grabs Stefan and shoves his arm into the fireplace. Michelle and Damon attempt to save their brother but Elijah grabs them and slams them against the wall. With Elijah being an original and having more strength than them, Ashley and Damon couldn't get free.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked Elijah while Stefan screams in pain.

"Stop!" Ashley yelled.

"Bring me my coffin before I burn him alive," Klaus ordered.

"Me and Michelle will go get it," Damon replied as Elijah released his grip on the two Salvatores.

"Go with them brother. And when you return I will keep my promise to you and I will hand over our family," Klaus said to Elijah.

Ashley, Damon and Elijah left the room. Elijah went to make sure his siblings were awake and ready turn Klaus's world upside down. A few minutes later Elijah returned to Ashley and Damon and nodded to them. The three walked back into the room with Stefan and Klaus.

"Elijah, why haven't you left?" Klaus asked his brother.

"Where are your manners brother? We forgot desert," Elijah stated as a woman walked in with a small tray. Elijah took off the napkin and the tray revealed two of the daggers that were stuck in his siblings.

"What have you done?" Klaus asked not wanting to believe what he was witnessing.

"What have you done? You see, I've learned not to trust your empty promises, Klaus. We're doing this on my terms now," Elijah smiled as one of his brothers walks in.

"Kol!" Klaus exclaimed starting to fear for his life.

"Long time brother," Kol smiled at Klaus loving the fact that he was starting to quiver with fear.

Just then another original sibling walks in and grabs a dagger off the small tray.

"Finn don't!" Klaus begged.

Finn stabs Klaus in the hand. Klaus yells in pain and tries to speed the other way to escape his siblings but Rebekah blocks his way.

"Rebekah!" Klaus exclaims knowing that there was no escape now.

"This is for our mother," Rebekah states as she stabs Klaus in the stomach with a dagger. He screams in pain as he backs up but Kol grabs his arms and pins them behind his back so he can't go anywhere.

"You're free to go. This is family business," Elijah said while looking over at the Salvatore siblings who were just watching what was unfolding before them.

Kol glances over to them and stares at Ashley taking in her beauty.

Ashley, Stefan and Damon leave and start walking through the woods to get home.

"You were right about Elijah. Undaggering him was a good idea," Stefan said to Damon.

"Wow. You're saying I was right. You're going soft Stefan," Damon said smirking.

"I'm very proud of you Stefan," Ashley smiled as she linked arms with Stefan.

"So I guess I should thank you guys for saving me from Klaus," Stefan smiled suddenly feeling grateful that he had Damon and Ashley watching his back.

"Shut up. You don't get to thank me until I pay you back for all the times you saved me," Damon replied as the three stop walking.

"You guys could have left me there," Stefan said while looking at them.

"Stefan, you're our brother. And no matter what's going on in our personal lives, that'll never change. In the end, we know we're all three gonna have each other," Ashley said.

"When did you get so grown up?" Damon asked feeling really proud of his sister.

"You know this calls for a group hug right?" Ashley chuckled; Stefan and Damon laughed.

"I hate hugging," Stefan said.

"But you love me," Ashley said while grinning.

"She's got a point Stef," Damon said while smiling.

The three Salvatore siblings hugged knowing that they'll always have each other in the end.


	2. Emotions Running High

**Thank you to all my readers! Thanks to anyone who followed or reviewed! It means so much to me! I hope you like this chapter!**

_Emotions Running High_

It's the next day and Ashley and her brothers were all at Elena's house. The Salvatore siblings were shocked when Elena told them that Esther had shown up at the Mikaelson's house after they had left and declared that she wanted her family to be reunited again.

"It was their mother Esther who was sealed in that coffin," Elena explained to the confused and shocked Salvatore siblings.

"As in the Original witch?" Stefan asked confused.

"What? How's she even alive? I thought Klaus ripped out her heart out a thousand years ago," Damon said trying to figure out the whole situation.

"I don't know. I'm guessing she has a couple connections in the witching community. Elijah says she wants to leave in peace with her family. Including Klaus," Elena said wanting to leave out the last part because she didn't want to see how the Salvatores would react.

"She was supposed to be the weapon to kill Klaus," Ashley stated.

"Not anymore. At least not according to Elijah," Elena replied.

"That coffin was the only thing keeping Klaus from tearing us to shreds," Stefan said trying to grasp the realization that Klaus could kill them in a heartbeat.

"Look Elijah promised me that his family wouldn't hurt any of us. I believe him," Elena stated.

The doorbell rings and Elena goes to the door. She comes back in the kitchen holding a card.

"What is it?" Ashley asked Elena.

Elena opens the card, "It's an invitation. Please join the Mikaelson family this evening at 7:00 for dancing, cocktails and celebration."

"Who the hell are the Mikaelson's?" Stefan asked.

"Let me guess…the Original family?" Ashley questioned.

"Yeah," Elena answered wanting to know why she got invited.

"It's not bad enough they're moving into town but now they want a housewarming party?" Damon remarked.

"Wait there's a note on the back. Elena, I think it's time that we finally meet. Esther," Elena said as she looks at the Salvatores who were all looking at each other. "If Esther wants to meet me, I think I should go."

"That's a dumb idea. She's already tried to kill you once," Damon said looking from Ashley to Elena.

"I should find out what she wants," Elena tried to reason with Damon knowing it would be hard to convince him to let her go.

"You can't protect yourself," Damon argued against Elena.

"Okay fine then I'll go," Stefan piped up.

"You've pissed off enough Originals to last a lifetime. I'll go," Damon said swiftly.

"Fine. But on one condition. Ashley has to go too," Elena said as she linked arms with Ashley. "I don't want you going alone Damon. And if Klaus needs a distraction then Ash will be perfect for that."

"Oh come on," Ashley complained.

"Please? For me?" Elena begged.

"Fine," replied Ashley with a groan.

"Awesome!" Elena exclaims with a grin.

That night at the ball Ashley and Damon are walking around trying to spot Esther.

"What's with you? Normally you can't wait to get out of my sight and you're like clung to my hip right now," Damon said to his baby sister.

"Klaus keeps watching me and I really don't wanna deal with him hitting on me tonight," Ashley replied.

"And you think I'm gonna be able to stop him?" Damon asked knowing that he wouldn't be able to hurt Klaus if he tried.

"He won't do it as much if you're around," Ashley explains as her and Damon walk up to Carol Lockwood.

"Hello Carol," Damon greets.

"Hello. Ashley, I love your dress," Carol says with a smile.

"Thank you," Ashley replies with a smile looking down at her dress.

"Hanging out with your new besties?" Damon asked skeptically.

"I'm the mayor Damon. When the oldest, deadliest family of vampires moves into your town you welcome them with a smile," Carol replied.

Just then they were greeted by Kol.

"Mayor Lockwood, we haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson," Kol said while shaking her hand. He then glances at Ashley. "And you're Ashley Salvatore. The beautiful lady my brother is smitten over." Kol took her hand and kissed it.

"Why do all men do this to me?" Ashley asked looking at Damon.

"Damon Salvatore. Have we met?" Damon asked sounding a little cocky.

"I've met a lot of people. And you don't particularly stand out," Kol remarks back with a smirk.

"Burn!" Ashley exclaims surprised of what just happened.

"Why did you come here again?" Damon asked his sister as he glared at her.

"I need a drink," Ashley replied with a smile and walks over to the bar; Klaus sees her walk up to the bar and decides to go greet her.

"Hello love. You look beautiful," Klaus compliments her while standing beside her.

"Thanks. A bar in your house? A little much don't you think?" Ashley replies. She's always known that Klaus had an ego.

"Eh. So did you bring a date?" Klaus curiously asked.

"Just my brother. Who is watching you like a hawk so I wouldn't try anything," Ashley stated looking over at Damon who was listening in on their conversation.

"I wouldn't dream of it love," Klaus replied with a smirk; Kol walks up to them and Ashley rolls her eyes.

"So Klaus, I can see why you adore her so much. She's beautiful," Kol smiles at Ashley.

"Oh look. Elena's here. Bye," Ashley excuses herself and walks away from them.

Nearly a half hour later Ashley finds Damon and Stefan so she stands with them. The Mikaelson family is on the staircase and Elijah gives a speech and tells everyone they're welcome to go dance in the ball room.

"I need another drink," Ashley announces and starts to walk up to the bar but she groans when Kol stands in front of her stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Hello darling," Kol smirked at her.

"What do you want?" Ashley asked impatiently.

"A dance partner," Kol replied swiftly.

"Sorry. I'm not available," Ashley faked smiled at him.

"Please?" Kol asked as politely as he could.

"Wow. A Mikaelson says please?" Ashley said kind of shocked that Kol was begging her; Kol just smiled in return. "Whatever. One dance. That's it." Kol nodded respecting her wishes.

They walk out to the ball room and Kol politely extends his hand. Ashley hesitantly takes it as she puts her hand on his shoulder and he puts his hand on her back and they start dancing.

"My brother is glaring at me. He really fancies you. I can see why. You're beautiful and you have spunk," Kol said enjoying the fact that Klaus was jealous.

"Yeah well Damon is my brother so I have his attitude," Ashley mused glancing over at Damon who was dancing with Elena and didn't seem to notice that Ashley was dancing with one of the enemies.

"Well I just so happen to like your brother's attitude towards protecting you. I guess the feeling is mutual between me and him," Kol smirked.

"You really are a piece of work, you know?" Ashley replied annoyed.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kol remarked back.

"Of course you will. You and Klaus aren't that different," Ashley stated thinking back to the time her and Klaus met.

"We are. You just have to get to know me first," Kol said hoping that Ashley would want to get to know him.

"And why would I want to get to know you?" Ashley asked.

"Because I'll be around for a long time. You have time. Give it a chance," Kol answered before twirling her and she just so happens to get twirled into Klaus's arms.

"Seriously?" Ashley groaned out growing irritated that she couldn't get away from the Mikaelson brothers.

"I thought you'd be happy love. I saved you from my brother," Klaus said as he glanced over at Kol who was clearly listening in to their conversation.

"You didn't save me from anybody. And honestly, as of right now he's a lot more tolerable than you," Ashley said kind of surprised those words just came out of her mouth.

"And how's that?" Klaus asked curiously. The last thing he wanted was for Kol to have Ashley's attention.

"Well he hasn't tried to kill my brothers or my friends yet," Ashley snarled while glaring at Klaus.

"Give it time love. If he gets angry, he kills," Klaus answered back ignoring the hard glare that he was earning.

"Gee who does that sound like?" Ashley asked like it was obvious.

"I love your attitude. You're sassy," Klaus smiled at her. He had always liked Ashley's personality even though she always gave him attitude.

"I'm not sassy. I just don't like you," Ashley shot back at him with a smirk.

"Oh but you will," Klaus returned the smirk.

"Somehow I doubt that," Ashley stated trying to get Klaus to see that she could never like someone like him.

"You'll see," Klaus said back knowing that he will get Ashley to see a different side of him someday.

The song ends and Ashley doesn't hesitate to pull away from Klaus. She had started to get uncomfortable from the way Klaus was staring at her and she could spot Kol staring at her a few feet away.

"Can I get you a drink love?" Klaus asked politely.

"No. I'm just gonna go talk to Stefan. I think I'm finally getting my brother back after you ruined his life so I'm going to enjoy that," Ashley answered back and walked over to Stefan who was smirking at her. "Hey."

"Hey. You sure got Kol and Klaus drooling tonight," Stefan said while still smirking.

"Ugh don't get me started. Where's Damon and Elena?" Ashley asked knowing that Stefan couldn't have been okay with all the attention Elena was giving Damon lately.

Stefan whispered the plan to lure Damon into a room and snap his neck allowing Elena to go talk with Esther. Ashley stood there shocked and concerned about Elena's well being.

"Oh my god! Stefan, is that safe? Elena could get herself killed," Ashley stated not believing that Stefan would let her do something like that.

"We didn't have a choice Ash. Damon never would have let Elena meet with Esther," Stefan replied; Ashley sighed knowing that Stefan was right.

The night went on and didn't get any more tolerable for Ashley. She was starting to slam down some alcohol because she was getting tired of Kol and Klaus always staring at her. She was now standing at the bar sipping on her glass of wine. Klaus decides to walk up to her.

"Can't I just have like 5 minutes without a Mikaelson bugging me?" Ashley complained while rolling her eyes.

"Nope. Sorry love," Klaus replied with a smile.

"What do you want?" Ashley asked looking at him now.

"Take a walk with me?" Klaus asked her as he extended his hand to her.

"Where? Inside your house?" Ashley asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes. I actually want to show you something," Klaus said smiling at her.

"If my brothers see you and me walking into a room together, they might flip out," Ashley stated worried about her brothers' reactions.

"Oh well. They can't kill me," Klaus stated while smirking. He extended his hand to Ashley.

"Whatever," Ashley stated while rolling her eyes. She looked down at Klaus's hands then looked back at him. "Let's go before I change my mind."

Klaus nodded and he leads her into a room away from everybody. The room has all kinds of paintings and drawings in it.

"So what did you want to show me exactly?" Ashley asked confused on why she was in this room.

"One of my passions," Klaus said with a smile as he motioned around the room; he smirked when he seen Ashley's jaw drop clearly in awe.

"Wow. Did you draw and paint all these?" Ashley asked surprised that someone as dark as Klaus could be capable of something as beautiful as the drawings and paintings.

"Yep. It relaxes me. Whenever I get too angry or upset about something, I do this," Klaus explained to Ashley while looking at his own artwork.

"That's…kinda cool," Ashley replied still in shock that Klaus had made all the beautiful artwork she was admiring.

Klaus didn't respond but smiled at her; Ashley looked over to Klaus when he didn't say anything and she noticed him smiling at her. She returned a small smile. All of a sudden they felt the presence of someone in the room with them. They look over and see Kol standing by the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" Kol asked the two who were smiling at each other as he entered the room.

"Just showing Ashley one of my passions," Klaus declared as he looked from Ashley back to Kol.

"Well I was actually hoping to steal her for another dance?" Kol stated in a questioning tone looking at Ashley. He smiled at her.

"No. One was enough. I had to dance with both of you and that's over so if you'll excuse me…I'm gonna go find my brothers," Ashley said wanting to get out of the room as she could feel the tension rising. She walked out and quickly finds Stefan. She starts talking to him.

Nearly ten minutes later, Stefan and Ashley suddenly hear a lot of commotion. They run outside just in time to see Damon snap Kol's neck.

"Damon!" Ashley exclaimed wondering what in the world got into her brother.

Klaus, Elijah, Finn, Rebekah and Elena run out.

"Are you crazy?" Stefan asked Damon somewhat disappointed in him.

"Maybe a little," Damon replied and noticed that Elena was standing outside now. He looks directly at her and remarks, "But I'm just a liability. What do I care?"

Damon walks away leaving everybody to wonder what just happened.

"What happened with you two?" Ashley asked Elena knowing that Damon was probably upset with Elena.

"Just a stupid argument," Elena replied knowing that she pushed Damon over the edge.

Ashley sighs and looks at Stefan; he nods knowing what she was thinking.

"Come on Elena. We'll take you home," Stefan told Elena.

"Okay." Elena replied; Stefan and Elena started to walk towards the car. Ashley took one last glance at Kol then looked up at the Mikaelson family standing there wondering what had happened. She gave them a sympathetic look and followed Stefan and Elena to the car.

A few minutes later, Stefan pulls into Elena's driveway. Stefan and Elena get out and Stefan walks her into the house. Ashley stays out in the car thinking about all the events that had happened that night. She sighs wishing that she could get into Damon's head and wonder what he's thinking. Stefan gets back into the car and sighs.

"You know, you're never going to get her back if you keep pushing her away," Ashley said to Stefan as she looked at him.

"I know. But I can't ignore the fact that her and Damon kissed," Stefan said to his younger sister.

"Yeah but Stef…Damon's not happy either if you haven't noticed," Ashley responded.

"I know," Stefan sighed as he threw the car into reverse and left Elena's driveway. The two stayed silent the whole way home. When they got into their house, they found it empty so they knew that Damon was at the grill drinking his sorrows away. Stefan and Ashley didn't say anything not wanting to make the night worse and they went their separate ways into their bedrooms.


	3. Betrayls

**Thank you to all of my readers! You guys rock! I hope you're liking the story! Enjoy this chapter! This was a fun one for me to write :)**

_Betrayals _

It's the next morning after the ball and Ashley had just gotten out of bed and got dressed. She went straight to the living room figuring that Stefan would be up by now. She walked into the living room to find it empty. She looked around wondering where Stefan could be. Just then Damon and Rebekah walked into the room; Damon was shirtless and Rebekah had her dress that she wore to the ball still on.

"I kinda figured you spent the night after the long night you two had," Ashley stated looking at them with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry," Damon smirked at her.

"No you're not," Ashley remarked back wondering how she should feel about her other brother hooking up with Rebekah; Stefan had already once fell for Rebekah but she never expected Damon to fall into the same trap.

"So let's not make a big deal out of this," Rebekah said while smiling at Damon.

"My thoughts exactly," Damon agreed with her.

"Besides I believe you'll come calling soon enough," Rebekah stated with a smirk.

"Let's not hold our breath," Damon countered returning the smirk. He opens the door and Elena is standing there and her face immediately drains as she realizes that Damon and Rebekah hooked up.

"Well this just got interesting!" Ashley exclaimed with a smile.

Rebekah looks at Damon and Elena then leaves. Elena walks in and doesn't hesitate to open her mouth about Damon's one night stand.

"Did you stop taking vervain?" Elena asked dumbfounded.

"You think Rebekah had to compel me?" Damon said in a questioning tone.

"What's wrong with you? She tried to kill me less than 48 hours ago," Elena explained not believing how Damon was acting.

"Can we just move past that Elena?" Damon said knowing he was getting under Elena's skin.

"So that's how it's gonna be now? I hurt your feelings and you lash out?" Elena asked Damon knowing that this was about their argument at the ball.

"Well maybe for once, this had nothing to do with you," Damon countered back knowing it would get to Elena.

"Ouch," Ashley said causing Elena and Damon to both shoot her a look. "Sorry."

"Well you should both know. Esther's planning on killing her entire family. She's linked them all together with a spell. Whatever happens to one of them happens to all of them," Elena explained to Damon and Ashley.

"That's great. Klaus will finally be dead. We win," Damon stated not seeing the bad news in the situation.

"But to kill Klaus she has to kill all of them. Including Elijah and he doesn't deserve this," Elena defended Elijah knowing that he has helped her in the past.

"I'm supposed to care about Elijah?" Damon asked like it was obvious.

"Shouldn't you at least care about Rebekah?" Elena asked raising her eyebrows.

"Two seconds ago you were pissed that she tried to kill you. It's a win, win. Don't do anything to screw this up Elena," Damon warned knowing that Elena has always had a soft spot for Elijah.

"He's right. Klaus has to die. They all do," Stefan announced as he walked in; Damon, Elena and Ashley all turned their attention to Stefan.

"See? And you can't screw this up either Ash," Damon stated now looking at Ashley.

"Me? Why would I screw it up?" Ashley asked like it was bizarre.

"Maybe because you were getting friendly with Kol and Klaus last night," Stefan replied knowing how many interactions his sister had with the two troublemaking Mikaelson brothers the previous night.

"Oh come on. I was not. If anything, I was trying to get away from them," Ashley said as she defended herself.

"You sure about that?" Damon teased knowing it would make his sister mad.

"Yes Damon. Geez am I on trial or something? I'm going out. Text me with details about a plan once you come up with one," Ashley somewhat snapped annoyed at her brothers; she left the house.

Just nearly one hour after she left the house, Ashley got a call from Damon and he explained the plan to her. After hanging up with Damon, she walked into the grill and immediately saw Alaric. Alaric looked at her and she nodded in return letting him know that she was aware of the plan. She turns her attention to Klaus and Kol who were sitting at the bar. She walks up to the bar and sits down beside them.

"Well isn't this a nice surprise," Klaus mused looking at Ashley with a half smile, half smirk.

"Hello darling," Kol stated with a smile.

"Okay if I'm going to sit here, don't serenade me like you did last night because that was very annoying," Ashley warned them.

"Well at least your brothers aren't here," Klaus stated thinking he was going to have Ashley all to himself if he could get Kol to leave.

"That's where you're wrong," Ashley said motioning over towards the door; Kol and Klaus look over and see Stefan standing by the door. Ashley looks at Klaus, "He wants to talk to you, Klaus."

"Very well then," Klaus said standing up and walking over to Stefan; him and Stefan walk outside.

"What should we do now darling?" Kol asked while smirking at Ashley happy to have her all alone now.

"I'm going to play pool," Ashley stated giving him a look and with that she walked away to the pool table.

It didn't take long for Kol to join Ashley. Alaric was on the other side of the grill observing their situation closely. Ashley gave Alaric a small nod and looked at Kol who was now standing beside her.

"What do you want?" Ashley asked trying to put on her best act so the plan would work.

"Just to talk," Kol replied honestly. He didn't know what it was about Ashley but something drew him to her and he wanted to get close to her.

"Yeah somehow I doubt that," Ashley responded to Kol leaning against the wall.

"Are you ever going to believe anything I tell you?" Kol asked her wishing he could get into Ashley's head. He didn't know why he was acting like this all of a sudden but he didn't care. He just wanted Ashley to open up to him.

"Don't plan on it," Ashley said looking away from him; Kol stood in front of her and put his hands on the wall behind her. He gets close to her face causing her to look at him. They're faces were inches apart.

"I could just compel you," Kol said to her although he wouldn't even if he wanted to. Man this woman was changing him but all of a sudden he didn't care.

"I drink vervain," Ashley responded very happy that she couldn't be compelled.

"I was afraid of that," Kol said and stared into her eyes. He could see the vulnerability and hurt in her eyes. Ashley wore a smile on her face but she was not happy with her life. Kol decided to take a chance and ask her a very risky question, "Why do you let your brothers control you?"

"I don't," Ashley remarked kind of taken aback by his question.

"Yes you do. Why? Are you scared of them? Have they hurt you?" Kol asked suddenly concerned about Ashley's well being. He didn't know why but the thought of someone hurting Ashley made him want to kill someone. Especially if the person who was hurting Ashley was her brothers.

"They would never hurt me," Ashley said feeling her emotions bubble up inside of her. She was getting angry but at the same time she wanted to cry.

"Really? Because I heard Stefan went on a ripper bender with my brother. Are you telling me that didn't hurt you? Him turning off his humanity and acting like you and Damon don't matter to him," Kol explained trying not to hurt Ashley but wanting her to talk about it.

"Stop it," Ashley said through her teeth. Tears started to consume her eyes; Kol studies her eyes.

"I see it. You're scared and lost on the inside. You're not really sure if you can trust your brothers completely because they've both hurt you before," Kol said reading her facial expression.

"Stop! Just leave me alone," Ashley snapped having enough of his interrogation; Alaric sees Ashley's facial expressions change and he decides to walk up to them.

"I'm pretty sure she told you to stop," Alaric stated standing behind Kol.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't talking to you," Kol said not taking his eyes off of Ashley; Ashley stared back at Kol then looked at Alaric. Kol turns around to face Alaric when Alaric stabs him in the chest with a dagger. Ashley blocks Alaric and Kol so no one would see what's going on. They drag Kol's body outside

"Good working baby sister!" Damon exclaimed with a grin proud of his sister.

"Whatever," Ashley shot back still upset about the stuff Kol was saying to her and feeling a little guilty for betraying Kol like that.

"Are you ok?" Damon asked concerned in Ashley's sudden mood change.

"Fine. Just…I don't wanna talk about it," Ashley dismissed hoping her brother would drop it; Just then Stefan speeds over to them.

"Stefan, what are you doing? You're supposed to be distracting Klaus," Alaric said wondering what was going on.

"He figured it out!" Stefan exclaimed just in time for Klaus to speed over to them and pull the dagger out of Kol. Klaus pushes Alaric and Stefan out of the way and stares at Damon.

"I should have killed you months ago," Klaus snarled at Damon looking him dead in the eye.

"Go ahead. It's not going to stop Esther from killing you," Damon remarked back knowing he had the upper hand in regards to Esther.

"What?" Klaus asked not believing what Damon just announced.

"You didn't know I was friends with your mommy? She hates you almost as much as I do," Damon responded with a smirk loving the shocked face on Klaus's face; Klaus gets ready to charge at Damon.

"Leave him be. We still need him Niklaus," Elijah said making his presence known; everyone looks at Elijah.

"What did mother do?" Klaus asked Elijah wondering what his mother was up to.

"Damon, tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now," Elijah said to Damon.

"You said we have until after nine," Damon replied noticing it was not nine yet.

"Things change," Elijah countered wanting to stop his mother from whatever she was going to.

"Did you use me as a distraction?" Kol asked Ashley as he stood up and looked at her; Ashley looks down feeling guilty while Damon tells Elijah where the witches are.

"To ensure there are no more games, we're taking Ashley," Klaus said to Stefan and Damon as he grabbed their sister's arm.

"What? No. Leave her out of this," Stefan said trying to reason with Klaus. The last thing he wanted was Ashley thrown into all of the madness with Esther's family.

"No Niklaus is right. We know you love Elena but you love your sister more. You'll let Elena die before you let Ashley die. So to make sure that nothing goes wrong, we're taking her," Elijah responded not wanting Ashley in harm's way but knowing it was the right thing to do.

"Come on! This is insane! She has nothing to do with this," Damon defended while getting mad that they were going to take Ashley with them.

"Yes she does. She really is a Salvatore. She lies and likes to play games," Kol shot back at all of them feeling betrayed by Ashley; Ashley gave him an apologetic look.

"If you so much as inflict any pain on her, I will kill you myself," Damon threatened fearing for his sister's safety.

"No Damon," Stefan butted in making everyone look at him. "_We _will kill you ourselves."

"Just do what we ask and nothing happens to her," Klaus said to the Salvatore brothers as him, Elijah and Kol all speed off with Ashley.

Within a couple of minutes Ashley, Kol, Klaus and Elijah arrive at the place where the ritual is taking place.

"Stay by me," Kol said to Ashley looking at her; he turns his attention to Klaus, "Niklaus, give her to me."

"No. I can't be killed. She's safer with me," Klaus explained not wanting Kol to play the hero of Ashley.

"Okay enough," Ashley snapped not wanting to hear them bicker about something so stupid; she walks over to Elijah.

"You're not safe over there," Klaus stated growing more and more jealous that Ashley wouldn't let him protect her.

"Niklaus, I will not let anything happen to her," Elijah reassured Klaus knowing that Klaus was growing envious of Ashley's choice of protection.

Everyone turns their attention to Esther and Finn who were standing inside the inner circle with fire surrounding it. Kol walks close to the circle and the fire grows a little bit more.

"That's lovely. We're stuck out here while Finn acts like a mama's boy. How pathetic you are Finn," Kol snapped at his mother and brother.

"Be quiet Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine," Esther shot back at Kol.

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be worse for you," Elijah stated not believing his own mother would betray her children like that.

"My only regret is that I did not let you die when I turned you," remarked back while glaring at her three sons outside of the circle.

"Enough already. All this talk is boring me. End this now mother or I'll send you back to hell," Klaus said tired of his mother's neglection towards him.

"For a thousand years I've been forced to watch you and feel the pain of every victim. Even you Elijah. All of you. You're a curse on this earth. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry. You've wasted your time," Esther explained to her children.

"Well what about you? You created them for your own selfish gains," Ashley snapped tired of Esther's remarks to her children.

"Ashley…" Elijah trailed off not wanting Ashley to get hurt if she upset Esther.

"No Elijah. Look, everyone hates you all and to be honest…I'm not too fond of you either but this is wrong. You never gave them a choice. You were too scared to lose them so you turned them. And I know how they feel. My brothers turned me into a vampire because they didn't ever want to lose me. And I had no choice but to deal with it. But the difference between my brothers and you…no matter what I have done in the past or what I do now, I know my brothers will always love me unconditionally and never wish death upon me. That's real family," Ashley remarked internally smiling thinking of her brothers; Kol, Klaus and Elijah all smiled a little feeling honored that Ashley just defended them.

"Are you finished Miss Salvatore?" Esther said impatiently.

"No. But you are," Ashley said sending a smirk in Esther's direction.

The fire starts blazing and the ground starts shaking.

"No sisters! Do not leave me!" Esther yelled feeling all of her power start to fade.

"Mother!" Finn yelled and tried to protect Esther from whatever was happening.

The fire blazes more and they all flinch back. Elijah covers himself and Ashley from the fire. All of a sudden everything goes back to normal and Finn and Esther are gone. They all look around.

"Ashley, what you just said about family-," Klaus started to say before getting cut off by Kol.

"It was perfect. And so true," Kol stated looking at Ashley suddenly feeling guilty for being upset with her.

"Yes Ashley. Thank you for saying that. It really moved me," Elijah said honestly; Ashley nods.

"Ashley!" Damon yelled appearing in front of all of them. He felt so relieved to see his sister standing there safe.

"Damon!" Ashley exclaimed while smiling feeling happy that her brother was okay. She ran into his arms. "I was so worried! Elena-"

"I'm going to call Rebekah and tell her to let Elena go," Elijah stated knowing where Ashley was going with the conversation.

"Let her know that Stefan is on his way," Damon told Elijah; Elijah nodded and walked away.

"Damon, what happened?" Ashley asked curious as to how him and Stefan managed to get Bonnie and Abby free of Esther's wrath.

"I'll tell you on the way home. Come on," Damon said wanting to get his sister home; Ashley nods and looks at Klaus and Kol.

"Listen Kol, I'm sorry I used you. It's not like me to do that but you need to understand that I will do anything for my family and my loved ones," Ashley explained to Kol hoping he would understand; Kol nods.

"I understand that. You're forgiven darling," Kol said wondering why Ashley was being so nice to him.

"She wasn't asking for your forgiveness so dial down your ego," Damon remarked at Kol.

"Coming from Mr. Egotistic that's a good one," Klaus countered somewhat defending his brother; Damon glares at Klaus and gets ready to say something.

"Come on Damon. I'm tired. It's been a long day. Let's just go home," Ashley said not wanting to witness another argument.

"Okay." Damon stated while putting his arm around her and they leave.

Later that night, Ashley walked into the kitchen where Stefan and Damon were talking. They both look at her when she walks in. Ashley walks up to them and hugs them.

"I love you guys," Ashley said to her brothers wishing they could always be this close; Damon and Stefan hug her back and look at each other.

"We love you too but what's this for?" Damon asked curiously wondering why his sister is being clingy all of a sudden; Ashley shrugs.

"Because you two drive me insane sometimes and make me want to scream but in the end you're my big brothers and I love you more than anything else in the world," Ashley said to her brothers.

"When did you get so grown up?" Stefan asked smiling feeling really proud of his sister.

"Hm. About 150 years ago," Ashley stated with a grin; they all three laugh.

"Stefan, does this mean…you're back?" Ashley hesitated on the question not knowing if she wanted to know the answer or not.

"I'm…working on it," Stefan said with a nod.

"You don't know how happy that makes me," Ashley stated with a smile knowing that her family would soon be back to normal soon.

"Oh trust me. I think I do," Stefan said returning the smile. He knew that he was making Damon and Ashley happy by returning back to his old self.

They all look at each other and hug again all three of them wishing that the moment would last forever.


	4. Madness

**Thank you to everyone who has read my story! I hope you like this chapter! If you have any ideas that you want put in the story, feel free to leave them in the reviews! Not much happens in this one...it's more like a filler chapter but enjoy! :)**

_Madness_

The last few days were quite eventful for the Salvatore siblings. They just wanted everything to go back to normal but it was far from it…and it would only get worse. There were mysterious deaths happening around Mystic Falls. Caroline's dad was even a victim of the serial killer case. Everyone was trying to cope with everything and trying to keep themselves sane as hard as it was. The Salvatore siblings were trying everything to stick together but it was getting hard with everyone being pushed to their breaking points. Damon and Stefan have been arguing more and more and Ashley hated it. Stefan decided he'd try to make a piece offering by helping Damon and Ashley try and solve the serial case murders.

"So I dug into all the old family archives from the 1900's," Stefan stated to Ashley and Damon hoping they would still accept his help.

"So now you wanna be helpful?" Damon asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Damon, don't start," Ashley warned tired of her brothers constantly bickering with each other. "What'd you find Stefan?"

"Well nothing from 1912 but Jonathan Gilbert's granddaughter Samantha confessed 10 years later. They assumed she was crazy so they locked her up in a room," Stefan explained the situation on the research he had been doing.

"Then what?" Damon asked curiously wondering where this was going.

"The trail ends there. She was a founder and you know how they like to look out for their own," Stefan said hinting at the fact that the founders covered up for Samantha.

"Samantha Gilbert…that is very weird," Damon stated with a puzzled look on his face; he was trying to grasp what Stefan was saying.

"Why?" Ashley asked looking at Damon.

"Because I'm pretty sure I had already killed her," Damon said looking at his siblings trying to piece everything together.

"So you think that Samantha Gilbert is still alive, running around Mystic Falls, killing founders?" Stefan asked Damon wondering what he was thinking.

"That's not possible. If she'd become a vampire, we'd know about it right?" Ashley asked as confused as Damon and Stefan.

"Well then she must have had a ring that brought her back to life. I mean, she was a Gilbert. Those rings are passed on through generations," Stefan said starting to put it all together.

"Yeah but even if she had a ring, she wouldn't be alive today. It doesn't protect her from old age," Damon replied trying to figure everything out.

"Jonathan Gilbert only made two of those rings. Jeremy has one of them and the other's…" Stefan said trailing off as realization hit him and his two siblings.

"Alaric's," Ashley breathed out trying to grasp what was happening; the three of them just look at each other with shocked looks on their faces.

* * *

The next day came and everyone was still in shock by the fact that Alaric had an evil alter ego that was killing founder members. Damon was out while Stefan and Ashley sat in the living room of the boarding house. Elena walked into the room.

"Hey Elena!" Ashley exclaimed surprised to see Elena there.

"Hey!" Elena responded smiling at Ashley; her smile slowly faded as her eyes wandered over to Stefan who looked up at her. "I'm sorry. Damon told Alaric that there was no one home otherwise I would've-"

"We just got home," Stefan said cutting her off clearly feeling awkward about her being there.

"Yeah and I actually have to leave again in a couple of minutes," Ashley stated knowing her her brothers would never approve of where she was planning on going; Elena nodded.

"I just came by to pick up the book that you found on my ancestor Samantha," Elena explained.

"That's fine," Stefan said with a short response trying to keep things simple with him and Elena.

"How are you doing? Damon said that you were-" Elena said trying to figure out how Stefan was feeling.

"I'm fine. I'm okay. Did you get everything you need?" Stefan asked Elena not wanting to talk about it.

"Yeah. Well I'm just gonna go," Elena said feeling a little awkward;she started to walk towards the door.

"Wait Elena. I'll walk you out. Stef, I'll be home later," Ashley explained to Stefan; Stefan nodded in response and Ashley and Elena walked outside.

"Elena, are you ok?" Ashley asked concerned about how Elena was handling all this.

"Yeah I'll be ok," Elena replied with a somewhat forced smile.

"He's still trying to get back on his two feet," Ashley said feeling bad for Elena.

"I know. Is he back to normal on your end?" Elena asked wondering how the siblings' relationship was going.

"We're…working on it. Me and him are back on track but him and Damon are still working on it," Ashley explained to Elena hoping it would make her feel a little better.

"I guess that's good," Elena stated feeling a little more confident that Stefan was coming back to them.

"We're getting there Elena. Just hang in there," Ashley reassured Elena; she nodded in response.

"Thanks Ash," Elena said smiling at Ashley happy that no matter what was going on with her and Stefan, she always had Ashley; Ashley returned her smile.

"You're welcome. Well I gotta go. I'll talk to you later okay?" Ashley said to Elena knowing she had to go run her errand no matter how much she hated it.

"Alright. Bye Ashley," Elena responded to her.

Ashley left and went to Klaus's house. She knocked on the door; Klaus opened the door and smiled when he saw it was Ashley.

"Ashley. What a lovely surprise," Klaus stated shocked that Ashley was standing there.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Look I just wanted to make sure your mom is gone for good. Me and my brothers need to know if we're at war now," Ashley explained to Klaus why she was there.

"No she's not here anymore. I don't know how long she's gone for but she's not here right now. We've all kinda split off," Klaus stated to Ashley.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked curiously.

"Finn's gone, Kol's gone, Elijah's gone. It's just me and Rebekah right now," Klaus said smiling feeling happy that Kol is out of the picture for now.

"Wow. Um…okay. Well, that's all I wanted to know. I'll see you later," Ashley stated feeling a little bummed; she turned to walk away.

"Ashley?" Klaus said stopping her and making her look back at him; he hesitated watching her look at him, "Nevermind."

Ashley gave him a weird look then left. She goes back home and walks back into the living room where Stefan is still sitting

"Hey," Stefan said looking up at her.

"Hey," Ashley responded back to him.

"Everything okay?" Stefan asked his sister noticing her change in moods since she left a little bit ago.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Ashley somewhat lied to Stefan not wanting to tell him that she had gone to Klaus's house.

Just then Damon walked into the house carrying a big package. He notices Stefan drinking.

"Little early in the day don't ya think?" Damon asked Stefan.

"Just having a little toast," Stefan stated with a smile.

"To what?" Damon asked wondering what had Stefan in such a good mood.

"Control," Stefan said feeling proud of himself that he was starting to get his hunger for blood under control.

"Well if you're happy, I'm happy. What about you Ash? You happy?" Damon asked his sister.

"Um I don't know. But why are you so happy?" Ashley asked confused.

"Yeah why are you in such a good mood? Sage double crossed you, the bridge is a pile of ashes, Alaric has a killer alter ego," Stefan explained wondering what got into his brother.

"You know what Stefan? I make the world a better place. I restore bridges, landmarks and…," Damon trailed off and pulled the cover off the package. "historical signs made of the same white oak as the Wickery Bridge."

Ashley and Stefan study the sign and come to realization that they now have white oak to kill the Originals.

"We have a weapon," Stefan said looking from the sign to Damon.

"Game's back on siblings. Let's go kill some Originals," Damon smirked at Ashley and Stefan; they all smile at each other.


	5. Covering Up The Pain

Thanks to all my readers! You guys are awesome! I hope you like this update! Enjoy! :)

Covering Up The Pain

Two days passed since the Salvatore siblings discovered they had a weapon that could kill the Originals. Damon, Alaric and Stefan spent the last two days working on cutting up the old Wickery Bridge sign and making stakes out of it. Ashley was in charge of distracting Elena and making sure she stayed out of Alaric's apartment so she didn't discover what the boys were doing. After the Salvatore siblings figured it was time to let all their friends know they have weapons, Stefan had texted all their friends and told them to meet them in the middle of the woods. Ashley, Stefan and Damon walked in the middle of the woods where Caroline, Elena and Matt were already standing.

"Where's Bonnie? I texted her too," Stefan asked when he realized that their witch wasn't there.

"Uh Bonnie's mom bailed on her again so I think we should leave her out of this one," Caroline explained.

"What are we doing here?" Matt asked.

"We found some more white oak," Ashley stated with a smile.

"Hang on…white oak? You have a weapon that can kill Klaus?" Elena asked curiously wondering what the Salvatore siblings had been up to.

"Nope," Stefan said while dropping a bag of stakes in front of him, "We all have a weapon. Klaus has always been one step ahead of us but now we have the advantage. We're all armed and they are all linked. Meaning we only need to kill one of them. We need to seize the best opportunity which means we need to prepare for the best opportunity."

"Scenario number one. Elena you get to play Klaus," Damon said while smirking at Elena.

"Rebekah is our target so we distract her and catch her off guard. To do that we need to keep Klaus separate and occupied. Ash that's where you come into play at," Stefan said explaining part of the plan.

"Why her?" Caroline asked wondering why they were using Ashley for Klaus bait.

"He's obsessed with her," Damon said while shuddering at the thought of his sister being bait for Klaus; Ashley rolled her eyes.

"So we use Matt to distract Rebekah. Just keep her talking," Damon said to Matt.

"How?" Matt asked wondering how in the world he was supposed to trick Rebekah.

"Act interested. She's lonely and desperate. Stefan holds the bombshell. I come up behind her and grab her arms," Damon explained with a smile.

"It gives me time for one shot. Got it? Good. So we all have one stake, we keep it hidden and we look out for an opportunity we have," Stefan said to the group.

"No last minute of attacks of pity for any of them," Damon said while looking at Elena and Ashley knowing they had a soft spot for the Originals.

"Don't worry about me. Not after what happened to Bonnie's mom," Elena said knowing Bonnie's mom got turned into a vampire because of the Mikaelson's.

"Ash?" Stefan asked making sure she wasn't going to feel pity for them

"What?" Ashley asked.

"Oh come on. We know how you have Kol and Klaus constantly drooling over you," Damon said to Ashley like it was obvious.

"So what? Kol's not even here and Klaus has done nothing but make our lives miserable since he got here," Ashley said hoping she'd be able to distract Klaus.

"Okay. So then, we have 12 stakes, 12 shots at killing one Original. We can do this. Alright. Let's try another scenario," Stefan said as they started to prepare for another scenario.

* * *

A few hours pass since the group finished practicing their scenarios to kill the Originals. Ashley was sitting in her bedroom reading when Stefan and Elena walk in. Ashley looks up at them and shuts her book when she sees the look of concern on their faces.

"We need to talk," Stefan stated to his sister who was now becoming worried.

"What's wrong?" Ashley said concerned; her face immediately drained after Stefan explained to her that Rebekah was holding Damon hostage in her house and was torturing him.

"We have to go save Damon," Elena said concerned about Damon's well being.

"No we need to stay on point. Look, Finn is at the grill. We have a chance to kill him. We need to take that," Stefan argued back knowing going after Finn is the best way to handle the situation.

"Yeah but Damon's life is hanging in the balance," Elena shot back at Stefan.

"Elena, Stefan's right. If we can kill Finn then Rebekah will die anyway and we can go save Damon," Ashley said agreeing with her brother on the issue.

"What do you want me to do?" Elena asked with a slight sigh knowing that the Stefan and Ashley were right; they all discuss the plan.

* * *

One hour has passed and Ashley is in the boarding house in the living room anxiously waiting to hear if the plan to kill Finn worked. Stefan and Elena walk in and Ashley immediately jumps up and walks over to them.

"How's Alaric?" Elena asked knowing Ashley was watching over Alaric for the past hour.

"He'll be okay. I gave him a bottle of Bonnie urbs and he went home. Did you guys kill Finn? Did it work?" Ashley asked wondering if all the Originals were actually dead.

"I don't think it worked until I see Klaus's dead body myself," Stefan said with a slight smile.

Elena's phone rings and she answers it. It was Bonnie and she explains how Klaus made her unlink all the Originals. Ashley and Stefan look at each other and nod. They start walking towards the door. Elena follows them.

"Elena, stay here. I'll call you when it's over," Stefan said wanting to kill Klaus himself.

"Stefan, stop. Klaus is stronger than the both of you. We need another plan," Elena said trying to compromise with Stefan.

"No what we need is for Klaus to be dead," Stefan said getting angrier by the second.

"Stefan stop it. You're acting on anger," Elena said trying to get Stefan how crazy he was acting.

"Anger gets things done Elena!" Stefan snapped back at Elena.

"Or it'll get you killed. And it'll get Damon and Ashley killed right along with you," Elena said looking from Ashley back to Stefan.

"Klaus does not get to survive this. Not after everything he took from me," Stefan said as he opened the door.

Ashley got ready to follow Stefan when Stefan came flying back in. Elena jumps and veins pop out under Ashley's eyes when Sage comes in with Troy.

"I'm not here for you," Sage said to Ashley then turned her attention to Stefan. "I'm here for him."

Ashley gets ready to lunge at Sage when she starts coughing and falls to the ground.

"Troy help me!" Sage yells at Troy wondering what is happening to her; Troy rushes over to her and falls down himself. Sage and Troy both grow lifeless and die.

"They just died," Elena said confused; Ashley, Stefan and Elena all look at each other with puzzled faces.

"So both Sage and this Troy guy died both within an hour of Finn," Ashley said trying to figure out what was happening.

"But why?" Elena asked.

"It's the blood. The bloodline. It has to be the bloodline. Think about it. Finn turned Sage, Sage turned Troy. They both originated from the bloodline of Finn," Stefan said putting it all together.

"So wait, when an Original dies then every vampire that originated from their bloodline dies along with them? Because that would mean-" Ashley trailed off looking at Stefan in horror; he returned the same look.

"If the Originals die, so do all of you," Elena said figuring out why Stefan and Ashley looked scared; they all look at each other.

* * *

Fifteen minutes passed and Ashley and Stefan decide that they're going to try and get Damon back. They soon find themselves at Klaus's house and they walk into the room where Damon is being held captive.

"Oh Damon," Ashley said horrified at the sight of Damon all bruised and battered.

"Klaus! Come here!" Stefan yelled; Klaus and Rebekah walk in.

"Hello love," Klaus said to Ashley while smiling at her; she rolls her eyes in response.

"So what do you want?" Klaus asked now looking at Stefan.

"I'm here to make a deal," Stefan responded as he drops the bag of stakes at Klaus and Rebekah's feet.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Damon managed to groan out.

"Those are eight stakes of white oak. It's a part of Wickery Bridge you forgot to burn," Ashley explained to the Original siblings.

"That's impossible," Rebekah said shocked.

"Actually it's not. Finn's dead," Stefan replied.

"You killed my brother?" Rebekah asked shocked and a little hurt.

"Damon in exchange for the last eight weapons that can kill you," Stefan said looking from Rebekah to Klaus.

"And how do I know there aren't any more left?" Klaus asked knowing that Stefan could be lying.

"Because there aren't," Stefan replied trying to be as convincing as he could.

"Let's be certain shall we?" Klaus said while walking over to Damon; he looks in Damon's eyes and compels him, "Leave."

Damon tries to leave and groans in pain.

"Oh my god stop! Stop!" Ashley yelled at Klaus hating to see her brother in so much pain.

"Just don't look Ashley," Stefan said while wincing at Damon groaning in pain.

"Please Klaus! He's my brother!" Ashley said trying to reason with Klaus.

"Okay stop. Well, he can finally be compelled," Klaus said glancing back at Ashley and Stefan; he looks back at Damon and compels him, "Minus the stake that's in my brother, how many more stakes are out there that can kill me?"  
"Eleven," Damon answered him.

"Eleven? So not eight?" Klaus responded looking back at Stefan and Ashley.

"You really shouldn't have lied," Rebekah stated.

"We'll get you the other three," Ashley said hoping that Klaus wouldn't try and kill Damon now.

"Good. But since Stefan lied maybe I'll just compel your brother to chew off his own tongue," Klaus said with a slight smirk.

"What is wrong with you?" Stefan asked Klaus not believing he could be so heartless.

"What is wrong with you?! I have given you someone to hate! A target for all of that anger that you don't have to turn it on yourself. I really think that you should be thanking me," Klaus snapped back at Stefan.

"Enough!" Stefan yelled having enough of Klaus; he slams Klaus against the wall and tries to stab him with a stake.

"Stefan no!" Ashley yelled worrying that Klaus will try and kill Stefan.

"Listen to your sister Stefan," Klaus said looking at Stefan; Stefan gave Klaus the stake and backed away.

"There. Now you only have to give me the other two," Klaus stated with a small smile.

"Well this is ridiculous," Rebekah said as she released Damon. "Bring us the stakes and you live," she said and walked out.

"Damon!" Ashley yelled and runs over and helps Damon up and supports him while he stands up.

"I mean it Stefan. I want both of the stakes," Klaus told Stefan then looks at Ashley; she just stares at him.

"You should get him home," Klaus said motioning towards Damon; Ashley nods in response.

"Come on Stefan," Ashley said wanting to get Damon home; Stefan gets on the other side of Damon and helps support him up.

"Hey Stefan, go ahead and take him out to the car. I'll be right there," Ashley said to Stefan.

"Ash…" Stefan said not wanting Ashley to get herself into trouble.

"I'll be okay. Just get Damon into the car," Ashley told Stefan; Stefan obeyed and walked out with Damon.

"Thanks," Ashley said looking at Klaus.

"For what?" Klaus asked her a little confused.

"For letting us go. You didn't have to. You could've easily killed Stefan just now and you didn't. And you're letting us all go without killing us. Even after we just told you we killed your brother and you know that we have stakes, you're still letting us live. So thank you for that," Ashley explained to a very confused Klaus.

"You should get going. Your brothers will be worrying about you," Klaus said with no emotion on his face; Ashley nods.

I wish that you would let people see the good in you more often. I see it sometimes. But then once people see it, you crush it because you think it's better to be the villain. But Klaus…just know, there's hope. There's always hope. Don't forget that," Ashley said to Klaus hoping she got through to him; she starts to walk away.

"Ashley?" Klaus said making her stop walking and look at him, " I didn't let your brothers out of here alive for them. Truth is, I would've killed them in a heartbeat if it wasn't for you."

"Goodbye Klaus," Ashley stated not really sure what to say; she walks out.


	6. Broken Relationships

**Thanks to all my readers! You guys are the best! This one has been my favorite to write so far! Enjoy! :)**

_Broken Relationships_

A couple days have passed since Ashley and Stefan rescued Damon from Rebekah's torture. Ashley, Elena and Stefan were going to go to Denver to get Jeremy and see if they can figure out where the Original's bloodlines lead to. Ashley, Stefan and Damon are in the living room. Elena is in the cellar with Alaric.

"So Stefan have you heard from Klaus?" Damon asked Stefan knowing that Klaus wanted the stakes.

"Not yet. I'm sure I will soon though. He's expecting me to deliver two stakes and I only have one," Stefan said fearing for what Klaus will do if he finds out.

"Well that's going to be disappointing for him," Damon said with a small smirk.

"I'll get it out of Alaric. I just need some time," Stefan stated trying to remain positive.

"I like that confidence Stefan. I don't share it but I like it," Damon countered back to Stefan.

"Damon, why do you always have to be so negative?" Ashley asked Damon with a slight shaking of the head.

"It's not being negative. It's being realistic," Damon replied back.

"You just don't think I can do what it takes," Stefan accused back to Damon.

"Well you are good Stefan again. You're in control. So you might get the girl but lose the edge," Damon said hearing Elena walking upstairs and coming into the room.

"Speaking of," Ashley said noticing that Elena had walked into the room.

"Huh?" Elena asked confused about what Ashley was talking about.

"Nothing. You ready?" Ashley asked Elena.

"Yep. You guys?" Elena asked looking back and forth between Ashley and Damon.

"We are ready to hit the road," Damon said with a small smirk forming on his lips.

"Stefan…" Elena started to say looking at him.

"Be safe," Stefan stated not wanting anything else to be said; Elena nods in response knowing that Stefan didn't want to talk about anything else.

"See ya later Stef," Ashley said while hugging him. "Good luck with Alaric."

"Thanks. Good luck on the trip," Stefan stated while hugging his sister back.

"Later Stefan," Damon stated while smiling at his brother and sister hugging; Ashley, Elena and Damon leave.

* * *

Three hours pass and Damon, Ashley and Elena get to Denver and they walk into the batting cages and see Jeremy.

"There he is. Hey Jer!" Elena said smiling at the sight of her little brother; Jeremy turns around and looks at them.

"Elena?" Jeremy asked surprised to see his sister. He sees Damon and Ashley and knows something is wrong. "What's wrong?"

A couple minutes pass and Elena, Damon and Ashley are trying to explain everything that's been happening to Jeremy.

"Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine and all we need to do is find out who sired Rose," Damon explains the final piece of information.

"So you traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" Jeremy asked trying to make sense of everything.

"Basically…yes," Ashley replied bluntly.

"I can't. I could talk to Vicki and Anna because I knew them. I've never even met Rose," Jeremy explained to them.

"Rose and Damon were close so maybe we can use him as a connection," Elena said to Jeremy.

"Fine. But can we do this later? My friend just got here. I'll call you when I'm done," Jeremy said then starts to walk away; Elena turns around and sees Kol walking up to them.

"Damon it's Kol!" Elena yelled shocked to see Kol; Ashley and Damon turn around and see Kol.

Kol hits Damon in the face with a bat and he falls to the ground.

"Kol don't!" Ashley yelled feeling concerned for her brother.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Jeremy yelled at Kol not knowing why his friend was acting like this.

"Jeremy, get back! He's an Original!" Elena yelled to Jeremy.

"What?" Jeremy asked shocked looking from Elena to Kol.

"No hard feelings mate but we're not buds," Kol stated with a small smirk.

"Kol, what are you doing?!" Ashley yelled at Kol wondering what his plan was; Kol looks at her and smiles.

"Sorry about this darling. Nothing personal I swear," Kol said to Ashley as he got ready to hit Damon again; Damon grabs the bat and stabs Kol with it and Kol falls to the ground lifeless.

"Did you kill him?" Jeremy asked while looking at Kol's lifeless body.

"No but it'll give us a head start. Come on guys," Damon said to everyone; Ashley looks down at Kol's body and sighs.

They all leave and drive to a hotel and get all their stuff into their rooms.

"You guys go ahead and start this. I'm going to go call Stefan," Ashley said wanting to check in on her brother.

"Hey, if you see Kol…" Damon said trailing off.

"I know Damon," Ashley said not wanting to hear a lecture.

"I'm just saying Ashley. I know how you have a soft spot for the Original men so you come back if anything seems weird," Damon said worrying about his sister.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Ashley said while rolling her eyes; she walks out and starts walking around outside. She calls Stefan.

"Hey sis!" Stefan exclaimed answering the phone.

"Hey bro! How's it going?" Ashley said smiling because she missed her brother and was happy to hear his voice.

"Um…slow. Nothing yet. Alaric's still Alaric so we have no idea where the stake is yet," Stefan stated with a slight sigh.

"Damn that sucks," Ashley said.

"Yeah I know. But I'll try my best to get it out of him. So how's it going on your end?" Stefan asked curiously wondering what's been going on with Damon and Elena.

"Well…we had a run in with Kol," Ashley said hesitating on telling Stefan about that.

"Kol?" Stefan asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Apparently Klaus has had him here spying on Jeremy and making Jeremy think they are friends. So now we are at a motel waiting for Rose to pop up and let us know the info," Ashley explained.

"Wait, you're at a motel?" Stefan asked now feeling worried that something will happen between Damon and Elena.

"Yeah. We had to get away from Kol," Ashley said.

"Oh," Stefan said with sadness.

"Stefan, nothing has happened between Damon and Elena and I don't think anything is going to happen. Elena loves you and Damon has a loyalty code to you," Ashley explained to her older brother hoping to give him reassurance.

"Yeah I guess. You should get back. But listen, if Kol would happen to show up again, I want you and Damon to protect each other. I know Kol wouldn't hurt you but he wouldn't think twice to hurt Damon or Elena or even Jeremy," Stefan warned Ashley.

"I know. I got it," Ashley said with a nod.

"Okay. I love you Ash," Stefan said.

"I love you too Stefan," Ashley said with a smile. She hangs up and walks back to the room. "So anything?"

"Actually yes. You remember Mary Porter?" Damon asked Ashley.

"Scary Mary?" Ashley said remembering her.

"That'd be the one," Damon stated with a smirk.

"So what about her?" Ashley asked confused on why Damon brought her up.

"She turned Rose but Rose has no idea who turned Mary so she's going to do some digging and figure out where Mary is then we're extending our road trip," Elena explained.

"Sounds fun," Ashley said with no enthusiasm.

"How's Stefan doing with Alaric?" Elena asked curiously.

"Nothing yet but Stefan's not giving up," Ashley told Elena; Elena nods.

Later that night, Ashley and Jeremy are in a room and Damon and Elena are in a different room. Jeremy is able to get info out of Rose and Ashley and Jeremy walk out and find Elena and Damon making out on the balcony.

"Woah!" Ashley said shocked to see Elena and Damon kissing.

"Elena?" Jeremy asked in disbelief wondering why Elena was kissing Damon.

Damon and Elena pull away and look at Ashley and Jeremy.

"Oh my god…Ashley. Jeremy," Elena said too shocked to say anything else.

"Rose found Mary. She lives in Kansas," Jeremy stated not wanting to talk about what him and Ashley just witnessed.

"Okay then. Let's go," Damon said looking from Elena to Jeremy and Ashley.

Elena and Jeremy go pack everything up in the rooms while Ashley and Damon are standing out by the car.

"What the hell was that back there?!" Ashley yelled at her brother not believing that he would do this to Stefan.

"Save the lecture okay?" Damon said rolling his eyes.

"No! Not okay Damon! None of this is okay. I told Stefan that nothing would happen between you and Elena," Ashley snapped back at her brother.

"And nothing did," Damon replied back to her.

"Yeah expect you two making out," Ashley countered.

"You wanna go there given your current situation in boy drama?" Damon asked now looking at Ashley.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ashley asked wondering what Damon was trying to get at.

"You have Kol and Klaus both wrapped around your finger. They're the enemy but yet you seem to have a soft spot for them," Damon responded.

"Woah woah woah. It's not like I have mutual feelings for them," Ashley shot back at Damon.

"You sure about that?" Damon asked knowing how his sister has been with Kol and Klaus lately.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Ashley snapped at her brother once again.

"Look, all I'm saying is you're pretty chummy over the Mikaelson brothers," Damon stated; Ashley got ready to counter his argument but Elena and Jeremy walk out.

"We'll talk about this later," Damon stated looking at Ashley.

"I can hardly wait," Ashley replied.

They all get into the car and leave. They head to Kansas with nobody speaking on the way there. They get to Mary's house and they all get out of the car.

"This is the address," Jeremy stated.

"Looks about right," Damon said examining the house from the outside.

"Wait here," Elena said to Jeremy.

"Why? So you guys can make out some more?" Jeremy snapped at his sister.

"Don't be a dick. Listen to your sister," Damon said looking at Jeremy.

"Jeremy, I won't let them make out again," Ashley said reassuringly.

"Fine," Jeremy hesitated then gets back into the car.

Ashley, Damon and Elena walk into the house.

"Who is this person again?" Elena asked Damon and Ashley.

"Scary Mary. Really old. Super creepy, Damon answered.

"And how do you know her?" Elena asked wondering how Damon was associated with her.

"Do you really wanna know?" Ashley asked giving Elena a look.

"Of course. Nice Damon," Elena said with a slight eye roll.

"What? I said creepy. Not ugly," Damon said.

They hear a noise come from the other room. Elena jumps and Ashley and Damon nod to each other. They slowly walk into the other room and Elena shines her flashlight on the wall and Mary is pinned against the wall with a stake through her.

"Mary," Damon said shocked to see her dead pinned against the wall.

"Quite contrary," Kol said from behind them as he turns on the light; Ashley, Damon and Elena turn around and see Kol.

"Oh come on," Damon said not wanting to have another confrontation with Kol.

"Hello again," Kol stated with a smile and he looks at Ashley, "You look even more stunning than before if that's possible."

Ashley kind of smiles.

"Okay you Mikaelson brothers really need to stop flirting with my sister," Damon said sick of Kol and Klaus hitting on Ashley.

"What are you doing here Kol?" Elena asked Kol.

"It's a shame about Mary. She used to be a blast. I quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an original groupie," Kol said looking at Mary's lifeless body back to the other three.

"And were you her favorite?" Elena asked trying to figure out if Mary originated from Kol

"You mean did I turn her? I think I did. But no wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother. I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will," Kol stated with a smirk.

"Kol, you didn't have to do this," Ashley said with a sigh.

"Oh but darling, I think I did. So where did we leave off?" Kol asked as he hits Damon in the kneecap with a bat; Damon falls to the ground.

"No!" Ashley yelled at Kol but Kol keeps hitting Damon so she speeds over to Kol and slams him against the wall. "Leave my brother alone!" She warned Kol.

"Ashley, get Elena out of here!" Damon ordered Ashley as he tried to get up; Kol gets out of Ashley's grip and speeds over to Elena.

"According to my brother, you're off limits. Please don't test me." Kol said s he shoves Elena backward; Ashley and Damon speed over to Kol and double team him by slamming him up against the wall.

"Don't touch her!" Damon yelled at Kol.

"Oh did I hit a nerve?" Kol said with a small smirk and pushes Damon backward.

"Stop Kol!" Ashley yells and she speeds over to Elena and helps her up.

"Relax darling. I just want us to be even. Damon, you snapped my neck, you killed my brother and then you humiliated me," Kol said to Damon and he hits him a couple of more times. "There. Now we're even," Kol stated to Damon then looks at Ashley. "I'm really sorry darling. I just wanted a little bit of vengeance."

Kol smiles at Ashley then walks out; Ashley sighs.

"I really hate those Originals," Damon said while standing up; Damon and Elena look at each other.

"I'll give you two a minute," Ashley said looking at Damon and Elena; she walks out of the house and sees Kol standing out in the yard. "Really? Can't you just leave?"

"I wanted to give you a proper goodbye," Kol said smiling at her.

"Why?" Ashley asked as she walked up to him.

"You know why darling," Kol said as he stared into her eyes; Ashley stared back into his eyes wanting to look away but couldn't.

"What are you doing?" Ashley barely managed to breathe out.

"Shh," Kol hushed her as he very slowly leaned in and brushed his lips up against her cheek; as soon as he did so, he sped off making Ashley look around for him.

Ashley sighed and got into the car just when Elena and Damon walked out. They head back home. Damon drops Elena and Jeremy off then him and Ashley head back home. They walk into the house and see Stefan.

"Stefan!" Ashley said happy to see her other brother; she runs to him and hugs him.

"Ash, are you okay?" Stefan asked hugging his sister back.

"Yeah I just missed you," Ashley answered.

"Hey, our road trip wasn't that bad," Damon said looking at Ashley; Ashley gives him a look.

Just then Klaus clears his throat making his presence known and they all look at him.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked sick of seeing Originals.

"Waiting for the stake," Klaus answered swiftly.

"Can't you do that at your own house?" Ashley countered back at Klaus.

"I suppose I could. By the way, I'm sorry if my brother caused any trouble for you," Klaus stated.

"I bet you are," Ashley said somewhat snapping back.

"Well I'll be going now. Bye Ashley," Klaus said to Ashley with a smile then he leaves; Ashley rolls her eyes.

"I'm going to bed," Ashley said to her brothers and before her brothers could ask her any questions, she walked upstairs and went to her room and goes to bed wanting to forget everything that had just happened.


	7. Taking Chances

**Thank you to everyone who reads this story :) It was very fun writing this chapter and I hope you like it :) Hope everyone likes the ending ;) Enjoy!**

_Taking Chances_

The next morning came and Ashley got out of bed and headed over to Klaus's house. She hesitantly knocks on the door. Ashley grows shocked when Kol opens the door.

"Well hello darling. How lovely to see you," Kol said with a small.

"Kol? What the hell are you doing here?" Ashley asked still shocked that Kol is standing right in front of her.

"I'm back," Kol stated.

"For how long?" Ashley asked curiously wondering how long she'll have to put up with another Mikaelson; Kol shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I guess that all depends on how things go while I'm here," Kol said while leaning against the doorframe.

"Um okay. Is Klaus here?" Ashley asked looking behind Kol; Klaus walks up behind Kol.

"Right here love," Klaus stated with a smile.

"I just wanted to know if Rebekah got the stake," Ashley said looking at Klaus.

"Yes she did. And I destroyed it," Klaus replied back to Ashley; Ashley nodded.

"Would you like to come in?" Kol politely asked.

"No I'm alright. I have to get going anyway. I have to go to the hospital and decorate for the dance tonight. Which Rebekah is in charge of so is she here or is she at the school?" Ashley asked hoping to talk to Rebekah.

"I haven't seen her since this morning," Klaus answered.

"Yeah same here," Kol responded.

"Okay. See ya guys later," Ashley said and she leaves.

Ashley goes to the school and starts decorating with Caroline and Elena.

"So Elena, who are you bringing to the dance tonight?" Caroline asked curiously wondering if Elena was bringing Stefan.

"What do you mean? I thought us 3 and Bonnie were going as girl dates?" Elena asked with a smile as she looks at Caroline and Ashley.

"Bonnie has a date. She asked Jamie to come with her. And I have Tyler. So here's a thought. Why don't you ask Stefan and Ashley can take Damon?" Caroline suggested wanting Elena to take Stefan.

"Ugh Damon as my date…ew," Ashley shuddered at the thought of her brother being her date.

"I can't ask Stefan to be my date anyway. I just made out with his brother," Elena stated.

"All the more reason," Ashley said bluntly.

"And you'd be okay with this Ash?" Elena asked with a small smile on her face.

"Look, I've been caught in the middle of this Stefan/Damon war over a girl before. And what I learned from the Katherine thing is that both boys are going to have their happy moments and their bitter moments but in the end we always pull together as a family. You do what makes you happy. I will be supportive," Ashley said to Elena.

"Exactly. Elena, what matters most is that you're happy. You were going to have to choose sometime anyway. Play the field," Caroline said.

"Very true. Maybe this will help in making your final choice," Ashley said agreeing with Caroline; Elena nods.

"Yeah okay maybe," Elena said now thinking about asking Stefan to be her date.

"Well, since we're on the mode of taking chances…I got to take one," Ashley said with a smile as she started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Caroline asked with a confused look on her face.

"I'm going to play the field," Ashley said smiling at Elena and Caroline and she leaves.

Ashley ends up going back to Klaus's house. She takes a deep breath and gets ready to knock when the door opens. Kol is standing there.

"Oh sorry," Kol stated not knowing that Ashley was just about to knock.

"I'm sorry. I was just getting ready to knock," Ashley told Kol.

"Niklaus isn't here. He just left," Kol said assuming that Ashley was there to see Klaus.

"I'm actually not here to see him," Ashley stated.

"Well Rebekah's still not here either," Kol said not catching on.

"Wrong again," Ashley said hoping Kol would get it this time.

"You're here to see me?" Kol asked confused.

"Yeah. I actually wanted to ask you something," Ashley answered.

"And what's that?" Kol asked Ashley wondering what she could want to ask him.

"Look this is going to sound really weird but I would actually like you to be my date for the dance tonight," Ashley told Kol.

"Really?" Kol asked completely shocked that Ashley would want him to be her date to the dance; Ashley nodded.

"What's the catch?" Kol asked.

"No catch," Ashley replied.

"Yeah I'd love to but why do you want me to be your date?" Kol asked wondering what got into Ashley.

"Well even though you're an egotistical douche, I think there's more to you than what meets the eye. So I figured what the hell right?" Ashley said with a small smile.

"Your brothers will not be happy," Kol stated returning the smile.

"If I recall correctly they've both had connections with Rebekah in the past so it's really not different. But anyway, I'll just meet you there. 7:00 tonight," Ashley responded; Kol nods.

"Can't wait," Kol stated.

"Me either actually," Ashley said smiling and she leaves.

The night came around and everyone was at the dance. Ashley was telling Damon and Stefan that she invited Kol to be her date.

"You did what?! Hello! Did you just happen to forget that he just tried to kill me by beating me with a bat not too long ago?!" Damon said snapping at his sister.

"He wasn't trying to kill you. He just wanted revenge," Ashley somewhat defended Kol.

"That doesn't make it okay Ashley!" Damon yelled wondering what his sister was thinking.

"Damon, calm down. Look Ashley, you can't trust him," Stefan said trying to reason with Ashley.

"Just because I asked him to be my date doesn't mean I completely trust him guys. I just want to learn more about him. I want to figure out what makes him the way he is," Ashley explained to her brothers.

"You know you're getting yourself into danger right?" Damon asked like it was obvious.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Ashley said with a small smile on her face.

"Just be careful," Stefan said hoping his sister knew what she was doing.

"I will," Ashley reassured her brothers. She looks over and sees Kol walking into the dance. "I'll see you later," Ashley said to Damon and Stefan. She walks over to Kol. "Wow nice outfit!"

"Hey, give me a break. I missed out on this decade," Kol said chuckling.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you look nice," Ashley said with a small smile.

"Thank you darling. You look beautiful," Kol complimented while grinning.

"Thanks," Ashley stated feeling her cheeks grow red; Kol smirks when he sees her blush. He extends his hand to her.

"Dance with me?" Kol asked politely.

Ashley looks at his hand and decides to take it. Kol leads them out to the dance floor. They are still holding each other's hands. Kol puts his hand on her back and Ashley puts her hand on his shoulder. There is only a couple inches separating their bodies as they start dancing.

"I'm really happy you invited me," Kol said to Ashley.

"Me too actually. I think I shocked everyone by asking you but I don't care. I wanted to get to know you and I figured this would be an easy way," Ashley explained to Kol; Kol smiles.

"You're so genuine. I don't understand it. Damon and Stefan aren't like that," Kol said while slightly shaking his head.

"They are. They just have their moments," Ashley said smiling when she thinks of her brothers.

"You three have been through a lot huh?" Kol asked.

"Yeah. Good times and bad times. I guess you know how that feels though," Ashley stated referring to the way the Mikaelson siblings act towards each other; Kol nods.

"I do. But if there's one thing about family, they will always be there for you when no one else is," Kol said with a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Yeah they will," Ashley stated looking over to Stefan who was dancing with Elena.

A few songs pass and Ashley and Kol are still dancing together.

"Have you seen Stefan? Him and Elena kind of disappeared," Ashley asked looking around for them.

"Gee I wonder what they could be doing," Kol said while raising his eyebrows and letting a smirk appear on his lips; Ashley playfully hits him in the chest and laughs.

"Ew! That's my brother! That's like me giving you the image of Rebekah with somebody," Ashley said really disgusted.

"Oh my…don't say that!" Kol said while shaking his head.

"See!" Ashley replied.

They both laugh but Kol stops and turns serious when he senses someone near them. He looks over and sees Klaus watching him and Ashley intently. Ashley follows Kol's gaze and sighs when she sees Klaus. Klaus walks up to them.

"Need something brother?" Kol asked annoyed that Klaus showed up at the dance.

"I was hoping to cut in if you don't mind," Klaus stated looking from Ashley to Kol.

"I do mind actually. There's a lot of girls here. Go find one of them to play with," Kol said not wanting to let Klaus and Ashley dance together.

"Kol, don't forget that I can put you back in a coffin again within a blink of an eye," Klaus told Kol.

"You and those dagger threats Niklaus. They're getting quite old," Kol countered back to Klaus.

"Enough you two. You're acting like children. Klaus, one dance. That's it," Ashley stated sick of them bickering; Klaus nods.

"I'm not kidding," Ashley said to Klaus.

"Okay. I promise. One dance," Klaus said while smirking; he extends his hand to Ashley and she looks at Kol.

"Fine. I'll go get a drink," Kol said glaring at Klaus and he walks away.

Ashley sighs and hesitantly takes Klaus's hand and puts one hand on his shoulder as he puts his hand on her back.

"What are you doing here?" Ashley asked Klaus.

"Rebekah told me to come. But she's not here apparently," Klaus said glancing around the dance for Rebekah.

"So why didn't you leave?" Ashley asked wondering why Klaus was still there.

"Well I was going to but then I saw my baby brother dancing with his date and-" Klaus started to say before Ashley cut him off.

"And you just couldn't wait to ruin it, right? I mean, that's what you do after all huh? Look at you just now. You threatened to put your brother back into a coffin for who knows how long just because you didn't like the fact of who he was dancing with," Ashley snapped at Klaus.

"You're reading me all wrong love," Klaus said surprised by her sudden outburst.

"Am I? Because I'm pretty sure I'm spot on," Ashley countered back at Klaus.

"You should be nicer to me. I'm leaving town tomorrow," Klaus stated; Ashley looks at him with shock written on her face.

"I'd invite you to come with me but I don't think your brothers would like that very much. Nor my brother," Klaus said to Ashley.

"Is Kol-" Ashley started to ask before Klaus finished her thought for her.

"Coming with me? No. But don't get your hopes up love. Kol…he's not the kind of guy that you want. He'll seem all charming to you at one point but then the next, he'll be onto the next girl. He's impulsive and reckless," Klaus said to Ashley trying to get her to change her mind about Kol; Ashley looks at Kol who is clearly listening in on their conversation by the way he's glaring at Klaus. She wonders if what Klaus is saying is true but she decides to defend Kol.

"How would you know how Kol is? You kept him locked in a box most of his life," Ashley snapped at Klaus; Klaus was hurt by her words and looks down.

"This was a mistake to come," Klaus said and walks away from her and walks outside.

Ashley knows she shouldn't have said that so she decides to follow him outside.

"Klaus, wait," Ashley said trying to get him to stop; Klaus and Ashley walk up to the line of salt that is laid on the ground.

"What is this?" Klaus asked wondering what was going on.

"Your mother's back," Stefan said from behind them; Klaus and Ashley turn around and look at him.

"What?" Ashley asked wondering if she heard Stefan right.

"Esther was in Rebekah's body. She got evil Alaric to dagger Rebekah and it put Esther back into her body. She led Elena somewhere and we have no idea where. Damon's trying to get Bonnie to locate her now," Stefan explained to them.

"Wait, are you saying that evil Alaric is out in Alaric's body?" Ashley asked her older brother.

"Yeah. And it sounds like it's for good," Stefan said slightly looking down; Ashley sighed.

"My mother just can't stay dead," Klaus said irritated with his mother.

"Come on. We have to go see how Bonnie is doing," Stefan said; Ashley, Stefan and Klaus walk inside and Kol walks up to them.

"What's going on?" Kol asked curiously feeling a little out of the loop; Ashley ignores him and keeps walking with Stefan.

Klaus tries to walk away with them but Kol stops him*

"What you told Ashley was a lie and you know it," Kol accused remembering what Klaus told Ashley.

"Actually it was the truth. But I don't have time for your petty games right now. Come on," Klaus said urging him.

Klaus and Kol walk into the room where everyone else is. Bonnie is working on the spell and everyone is waiting.

"What's taking so long? All boundaries spells have a loophole," Klaus said impatiently.

"People are walking right out of the dance past the barrier," Matt said walking in.

"Matt and I can leave. We can stop Esther ourselves. We just gotta find out where she is," Jeremy tried to reason.

"It's too dangerous Jeremy," Ashley said looking at him; Jeremy sighs.

A few minutes pass and Klaus, Kol, Ashley and Bonnie are in the classroom.

"Whatever Klaus told you, it's a lie," Kol whispered into Ashley's ear; Ashley looks at him.

"Alaric's practically dead and Elena's in danger and you wanna talk about this right now?" Ashley snapped at Kol; Klaus hears her and smirks to himself.

"Here. Jeremy made a little donation to do the locator spell," Damon said walking in and handing a vile of blood to Bonnie.

They all walk over to Bonnie and watch as she does the spell.

"Esther's fighting me," Bonnie told them struggling to keep her spell going.

"Esther couldn't possibly have that much power unless she's channeling something or someone," Klaus explained.

"A hot spot," Bonnie said looking at Klaus understanding what he was saying.

"Get the humans ready. I know where she is," Klaus stated.

A few minutes later Ashley decides to get some air so she goes outside and she sees Klaus standing out there. She walks up to him.

"Can we talk?" Ashley asked Klaus.

"Shouldn't you be inside with Kol?" Klaus countered back.

"If I was inside, I'd have my brothers hovering over me and I needed some air," Ashley explained to Klaus.

"There's nothing to talk about," Klaus said avoiding eye contact with her.

Ashley gets ready to say something but Stefan walks out and walks up to them.

"You okay?" Stefan asked looking at Ashley; she nods.

"Fine," Ashley replies back.

"You know this is your fault. You set us on this path when you released my mother. I wonder if revenge will prove worth the cost," Klaus said looking at Stefan.

"Oh I'm done with revenge. I lost too much focusing on revenge," Stefan said looking at Ashley; she smiles.

"And as far as Esther, we've stopped her before. We'll stop her again," Stefan explained looking at Klaus.

"We'll do it together," Ashley said.

"That's right," Stefan responded smiling at his baby sister.

"You guys aren't having a sibling moment without me, are you?" Damon asked walking out.; Ashley chuckles.

"Well isn't this cute. The Salvatores and the unshakable bond. I just wonder what will happen when Elena finally makes her choice. You two men will be at odds once again and poor Ashley will be caught between her brothers yet again," Klaus told them smirking; Ashley, Damon and Stefan all look at each other.

"It's done. Esther's not fighting me anymore. The boundary spell is broken," Bonnie said walking out; Klaus speeds off as soon as he hears the news.

"Thank you Bonnie. For everything," Stefan said sincerely to Bonnie.

"I didn't do it for you. In fact, if it wasn't for Ashley, I wouldn't even talk to you guys so thank her," Bonnie said then walks back inside; as she walks back inside, Kol walks outside.

"My brother left?" Kol asked them.

"Yeah. The boundary spell is broken," Stefan answered him.

"Can I talk to you?" Kol asked Ashley.

"I can't. We have to go make sure Elena's okay and check on Alaric. Come on guys," Ashley said looking at Damon and Stefan; Damon, Stefan and Ashley leave and Kol sighs.

Ten minutes pass and Damon, Stefan, Ashley, Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline, Meredith, Matt, and Bonnie are all standing outside of the cemetery.

"I can't believe Alaric's going to die," Ashley said sobbing.

"Shh. It's okay," Stefan soothed her by hugging her.

They all turn their attention to Alaric and Elena who walk out of the tomb. Elena walks over and stands beside Ashley, Stefan and Damon. Alaric takes one last look at them all and goes back inside the tomb.

"I um, have to go do something," Ashley stated and speeds off.

* * *

**Ashley's POV**

_I'm not sure why I had the urge to do this. Everyone will hate me for this, especially Stefan and Damon but this has to be done. As I'm speeding through the woods, I keep thinking of all the reasons this is wrong but I just don't care right now. I had to do it….I had to see him. I soon find myself knocking on the door. I had an urge to run away but my legs wouldn't move. This just felt right no matter how wrong it was. Soon enough, I find myself smiling at the sight of him answering the door._

"Ashley? What are you doing here?" Kol asked confused.

"What I did tonight was wrong. I never should have ignored you like I did," Ashley replied to Kol feeling guilty.

"Ashley-" Kol started to say before Ashley cut him off.

"No you need to hear this. I was scared. I was scared because I feel something for you and honestly, it scares the crap out of me. I don't want to feel this way about you because it's wrong. We're supposed to hate each other but no matter what I do, I can't hate you. I don't think I'll ever able to," Ashley explain to a confused and shocked Kol.

_As I went to take a breath, I was shocked to feel Kol's arm snake around my waist and pull me to him. I was even more shocked when I felt his lips crash onto mine and at that moment, all I could think about was how perfect this felt. It didn't feel wrong, it felt right….it was right. My mind floated to Stefan and Damon's reaction to this but I didn't care. As Kol pulled away, I smiled at him in which he returned._

"That was perfect," Ashley said feeling her lips tingle from the kiss.

"Yes it was," Kol stated not believing what just happened.

"I should go in case Stefan and Damon are home wondering where I am but I'll see you tomorrow?" Ashley asked.

"I sure hope so," Kol replied smiling.

"Goodnight Kol," Ashley responded with a grin on her face.

"Goodnight darling," Kol said returning the grin.

_I pecked Kol on the cheek before I sped away from the house. I went back to my house and found it empty. Stefan must be comforting Elena and Damon...he's probably getting drunk. I go upstairs to my room and collapse on my bed, exhausted from this long day. I don't even take my dress off. I just lay on my bed and think how perfect the kiss with Kol was. I wanted to slap myself because I knew that being attracted to a Mikaelson could only end badly but I didn't care. As I slowly fell asleep only one thought ran through my head: I was slowly falling for Kol Mikaelson._


	8. Before Sunset

**I'm sorry I haven't uploaded in a while but I wanted to do these next 3 chapters together so I'm uploading them all at once :) Here is the first part of the updates! Hope everyone likes this chapter :) I wasn't sure how to write it in some parts but I tried my best. Enjoy! :)**

_Before Sunset_

The next day came morning came too fast for Ashley's enjoyment. She knew she had to go to the school to go clean up from the dance so she forced herself out of bed and got dressed. She went downstairs and realized the house was quiet so either Damon and Stefan were still sleeping or they weren't there. Ashley left the house and headed to the school. When she gets there, she goes to the cafeteria where she sees Rebekah already cleaning up.

"Hey. Where's Matt?" Ashley asked looking around the room.

"He bailed. Got called into work at the last minute," Rebekah answered her feeling annoyed that she had to clean up for the dance that she wasn't at.

"Are you kidding me? So it's just us?" Ashley asked her knowing that it would take a while to clean up everything with it just being her and Rebekah.

"Yes and you're late. Clean up committee started at eight o'clock," Rebekah replied.

"It's like 8:02," Ashley said.

"Exactly. I managed to show up on time and I didn't even get to attend the dance that I organized," Rebekah said looking at Ashley.

"I'm sorry about your mom. I know you and your brothers hated her but still…it sucks to lose someone. I'm sorry," Ashley stated feeling bad for her.

"I'm sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy," Rebekah responded sincerely.

"He was," Ashley said.

"Look, I know there's been some drama between my brothers over you but I want you to know something. I've always liked you. I know you have mixed feelings about me but I just thought you should know that," Rebekah explained to Ashley; Ashley smiles.

"Thanks. And deep down, I've always liked you too. Honestly, if I would have known you when you and Stefan were together, I think we would have been best friends," Ashley said honestly; a small smile appears on Rebekah's face.

"I'm going to go get started on the gym," Rebekah said then walks out.

Just seconds later, Ashley hears Rebekah and Alaric talking so she speeds out just in time to see Alaric trying to stake Rebekah. She speeds over to them and her and Rebekah try to take him down. Rebekah stabs him with the stake but her and Ashley look at each other in horror when they realize the stake didn't affect him. They run off in opposite directions. Ashley runs outside and tries to get in her car but Alaric comes up behind her and snaps her neck. He drags her back inside the school.

* * *

Ashley's POV

I woke up and found myself tied up in a chair in Alaric's classroom. I feel a sharp burning in my mouth and realize there is a rag full of vervain tied around my mouth. I scream out in pain as I look down as see pencils are sticking in my hands to hold them in place on the desk. All that goes through my head is Stefan and Damon. I see Alaric hold his phone up to his ear so I listen in on the conversation as he calls Elena and tells her that he has me hostage and that she needs to come here alone. I start to cry as I realize that Stefan and Damon are not going to know that I am here or that Elena is with going to be with me shortly. Several minutes pass as Alaric's head perks up and I realize that Elena is at the school. Elena soon runs into the classroom and I look up at her with tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Ashley," Elena sympathizes then turns her attention to Alaric, "Let her go Alaric."

"Free her yourself," Alaric stated motioning to me; Elena looks at Alaric skeptically then glances at me. She runs over to me and kneels down beside me and starts to slowly take out one of the pencils. Alaric speeds over and slams the pencil back into my hand making me scream out in pain.

"You said that you would let her go!" Elena yells at Alaric standing back up.

"How many times do I have to tell you Elena? Stop trusting vampires!" Alaric snapped at Elena.

Elena tenses up and sits down. Alaric takes the rag off my mouth and carries it over to the vervain and dips the rag in it. He then starts to walk back over to me.

"No. No more please," I begged as I started to sob.

"Alaric stop!" Elena yelled and stood up; Alaric shoved her back in the seat.

"Sit down! This keeps the vervain in her system. It's like inhaling razor blades with every breath," Alaric stated as he put the rag back on my mouth; I yell in pain as I feel the sharp burning pain.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asked Alaric as she rubbed my arm trying to comfort me.

"To make it easier on you when you put her out of her misery," Alaric answered and me and Elena looked at each other with horror in our eyes.

"What? No!" Elena objected.

"Isn't this what you wanted Elena? For me to teach you how to kill a vampire? Well, here's a vampire. Kill her," Alaric ordered Elena.

"This isn't what I wanted," Elena said shaking her head.

"Of course it is. All those hours you spent training and getting stronger. You could be a hunter Elena but you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart," Alaric explained.

"Why are you doing this?!" Elena yelled at him.

"Because you need me. Because you're an eighteen year old girl without parents or guidance or without any sense of right and wrong anymore," Alaric responded.

"Look at you. How is this right?" Elena asked motioning over to me.

"She's a murderer. She's been a vampire for over 150 years. Her and her brothers have killed tons of people. Now how is that right?" Alaric questioned pointing at me. "Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all."

"You don't know anything about them," Elena said with irritation in her voice.

"Why am I wrong? Do you actually think that they would be proud of you? If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them. Now kill her or I'll do it for you and I'll make it hurt," Alaric said and grabbed Elena and pulled her up. He put the stake in her hand.

Elena looks at me with sorrowful eyes and I stare back at her hoping this wasn't my final moments. Elena then tries to stab Alaric but he catches her arm and yanks the stake out of her hand.

"I thought I taught you better than that," Alaric stated.

"You did," Elena replied back.

The next couple minutes happened so fast that I could barely grasp what was happening. Elena grabbed the glass of vervain and smashes it on Alaric's face. She then runs over to me and frees my hands and takes the rag off of my mouth.

"Get help," Elena urges me as she helps me up.

I use my vampire speed and get out of there. I was hoping that Elena was behind me so when I get down a hallway, I start to walk backwards hoping that I could see or at least hear Elena behind me. I then felt someone grab me and felt a hand go over my mouth. I get ready to scream but then I hear a familiar voice whispering in my ear.

"Shh. It's okay. It's okay it's me. You're safe," Klaus whispers gently to me as he takes his hand off my mouth; I look up at him but can't find any words.

"We'll save Elena. You go straight home. Kol is waiting for you there. You stay with him at all times. You understand?" Klaus asked me and when I didn't respond he turned me around so I was facing him, "Do you understand me?"

I slowly nod. I knew Damon and Stefan were around here somewhere and I wanted to help them but I knew they would want me home safe. Knowing Kol was at home waiting for me made me want to get out of there more.

"Thank you," I manage to say to Klaus and he just stares at me for a moment and in that moment I could see his humanity showing. Before I could say anything else, he sped off without another word. I stood there for a moment wanting to find my brothers but I knew if they saw I stuck around, they wouldn't be happy.

* * *

I sped off and I left the school and got home as quickly as I could. As soon as I got to the front door and got ready to open it, I could hear someone behind me. I jump and turn around but breathe a sigh of relief when I see Kol standing there.

"Sorry your brothers wouldn't invite me in," Kol said to me and I think I shocked him when I ran into his arms. He wrapped his arms around me protectively and in that moment, I finally felt safe.

"I'm so happy you're here," I say as I pull away and look at his somewhat shocked face.

"Are you okay darling?" Kol asked me as he brushed some hair out of my face.

"I am now. I'm just worried about Stefan and Damon," I said to him letting my mind wander to the possibility that my brothers could be in danger.

"They'll be okay. Besides, Klaus is with them," Kol tried reassuring me.

"Is that supposed to be comforting?" I ask him with my eyebrows raised; Kol chuckled.

"I'm really glad you're okay. I thought you were going to die," Kol said to me.

"I'm a Salvatore. I don't give up that easily," I stated with a smile;

Kol then gently strokes my cheek and gives me a heartwarming smile. I can't help but lean in and kiss him. When I pull away, I find him smiling at me.

"What was that for?" He asked me.

"Just because. Kol, you really are amazing," I say to him being completely open with him; Kol smirks and I knew a smartass comment was coming.

"I am, aren't I?" Kol says to me; I laugh and shove him in the chest playfully. He grabs my waist and pulls me close to him making me squeal and laugh. Kol quickly silences me by kissing me. The kiss is so amazing and tender that I deepen it. Kol responds back by deepening our kiss even more and I grow surprised when I feel his tongue slip into my mouth. I greet his tongue with my tongue as our breathing started to grow heavy. Just then we hear someone clearing their throat. We pull away and look over to see Stefan and Damon not looking happy.

"Oh my god! You guys are safe!" I yell happy to see that they're okay and I run over to them and throw myself into their arms. I feel their arms wrap around my back making me smile.

"Kissing Kol now huh?" Damon says as I pull away and my smile quickly fades.

"Uh-" I stumble trying to find the words.

"This talk can wait. We need to go over what happened," Stefan said saving me.

"Is Alaric-" I trailed off.

"He's still alive," Damon said.

"Why? He's dangerous!" Kol said with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Well, we actually desiccated Klaus instead of Alaric," Stefan told us making me and Kol shocked.

"What?!" Me and Kol yelled at the same time.

"Why did you do that to my brother?!" Kol yelled at them.

"Because we needed him out of our lives," Damon explained to us.

"Why not Alaric though? He's more dangerous than Klaus at this point," I say to my brothers trying to keep my calm.

"Because if Alaric would have killed Klaus, we would have all been dead," Stefan said.

"Klaus turned our bloodline?" I asked them.

"That's what he said. Anyway, we need to go get rid of Klaus's body so Alaric can't find him," Damon said changing the subject.

"What are you doing with my brother?" Kol asked.

"We're going to hide him until Alaric's dead. Which we are heading to go hide him now. You want to come Ash?" Stefan asked me.

"No. I wanted Alaric to be dead so that this would all be over," I snapped.

"Are you mad at us?" Damon asked me accusingly and I said nothing.

"I need to go," Kol said then looked at me. "See ya." And with that he left.

"Great. Now he's probably mad at me," I say.

"So are you two a thing now?" Damon asked me.

"Don't start," I warned him not wanting to hear a lecture.

"Ash, he's not right for you," Stefan said trying to be gentle but I snapped.

"So what? You two wanna lecture me about this? You two both fell for Katherine and she was a complete bitch to both of you. She tore this family apart then you two turn around and fall for Katherine's human doppelganger. You have no room to judge who I want to be with," I snapped at them.

"We get what you're saying Ash but this is Kol we're talking about. He's an Original," Stefan said to me.

"Yeah and he's also a good person underneath it all. You just don't know him. And if I recall, both of you have had a thing with Rebekah correct?" I counter their arguments.

"That's not the same thing," Damon said trying to turn it back on me.

"Yes it is," I say back.

"Can we not do this right now? We need to get moving before Alaric comes after us," Stefan said.

"Fine. Ashley, stay inside. Once it's nightfall Alaric will be out in public and who knows who will be his targets," Damon said to me.

"Yeah I got it," I say knowing I can take care of myself.

"Come on Damon," Stefan urged Damon on.

"You two be careful," I say to them knowing I couldn't handle it if they got hurt or worse.

"We will. Go inside and if you hear any strange sounds you call one of us. Okay?" Stefan says to me; I nod then they take off. I go inside the house and lay down on the couch. I couldn't believe that Klaus was desiccated. He was practically dead. I just hoped Kol didn't hate me for what my brothers did. I soon find myself drifting off to sleep wanting to forget about this horrible day.


	9. The Departed

**This is the second part of the updates! Thank you to everyone who reads this! Hope you guys like it! Enjoy! :)**

_The Departed_

Ashley woke up to her phone ringing. She shot up and grabbed her phone off the table next to the couch. Ashley saw it was Damon and she immediately got worried.

"Damon? Is everything okay?" Ashley asked her voice a little shaky.

"Yes and no. Everything's fine with us but it's Elena. Apparently she passed out and Jeremy took her to the hospital. Anyway, Stefan is coming back to Mystic Falls and I'm going to dump Klaus's body off," Damon explained to his baby sister.

"Okay. Is there anything I can do?" Ashley asked wishing she could do something.

"You can head over to Elena's if you want. I'll be there soon," Stefan answered her.

"Okay. I'm on it," Ashley told Stefan and she hangs up.

Ashley goes to Elena's house and walks in to find Elena and Matt on the couch talking.

"Elena, are you okay?" Ashley asked making her presence known; Matt and Elena look at her.

"I'll be okay. Just a little bump on the head," Elena said with a small smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I told her to head over here," Stefan said from behind Ashley; Ashley turned around surprised to see her brother. She embraces him in a hug. Elena stands up and walks over to Stefan and hugs him.

Minutes later, Stefan and Ashley are fixing food while Matt and Elena sit on the couch.

"I'm being coddled. I feel fine," Elena said.

"You're on house arrest. You're supposed to be coddled," Stefan responded and Ashley smiled a little.

"Wouldn't it be smarter if we just got you out of town?" Matt suggested to Elena.

"And do what? Go on the run for the rest of my life? No thank you," Elena said shooting down Matt's idea; she stood up and walks out of everyone's eyesight; Matt looks at Stefan.

"So you're just going to let her call the shots?" Matt asked Stefan.

"I'm letting her make her own decisions," Stefan answered.

"Even if they're wrong?" Matt countered.

"There's nothing wrong with free will Matt," Ashley said coming to her brother's defense.

"Stefan," Elena said from the other room; Stefan Ashley and Matt all look in Elena's direction and see that Elijah is standing by Elena.

Within a few minutes, Elena, Stefan, Ashley, Elijah and Matt are all sitting at the kitchen table and Elena's cell phone is on the table with Damon on speakerphone.

"All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once the weapon is in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the earth and Alaric will follow us," Elijah explained; Ashley then realizes that means Kol might leave and she gets sad.

"And you'll just run?" Stefan asked skeptically.

"We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent a many years running from my father. What's another century while Elena's able to live out the rest of her natural life?" Elijah asked.

"We finally stopped him Elijah. After everything's he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back," Elena said.

"I give you my word Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours or your children's lifetimes," Elijah swore to her.

"Why should she trust you? All you've done is screw her over," Matt stated trying to protect Elena's well being.

"And for that I'm deeply ashamed but know this. She could've been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight so Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not," Elijah explained to Elena.

"Not! Hello? Did that concussion give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!" Damon said on the phone.

"Kol won't. I know he won't," Ashley said.

"Yes Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms. If you return Klaus's body to us, Elena will come to no harm. Do we have a deal?" Elijah asked looking at Elena.

"No! No no no no no. Did I mention no?" Damon butted in.

"Elena it's up to you," Stefan said quietly.

"Oh come on!" Damon stated.

"Why do you want Klaus's body?" Elena asked Elijah.

"He's my brother. We remain together," Elijah said honestly; Elena sighed.

"We have a deal," Elena said giving in.

Several minutes pass and Jeremy is now home. He explained to everybody that Alaric wants him to tell him where Klaus's body is. They all come up with a plan and Jeremy calls Alaric

"I know where Klaus's body is. Damon's on his way to bury him in the woods off route 12. I'll text you with the specifics," Jeremy told Alaric.

"Thank you Jeremy. You're doing the right thing for your sister," Alaric said.

"I know," Jeremy stated then hung up the phone and looked at everyone. "He bought it."

A few minutes pass and Ashley decided to go outside and try to call Kol. She dialed his number and got his voicemail. Ashley sighed and decided to leave a message.

"Hey Kol. Um, so Elijah's here and making a deal with Elena in regards to Klaus. I don't know if you knew that or not but I just thought you should know. So anyway, call me back if you want," Ashley said then hung up. Stefan walked out of the house holding his phone.

"I have Damon on speakerphone," Stefan told Ashley.

"Oh. How's it going?" Ashley asked Damon.

"Well Bonnie just left and Rebekah should be here soon to pick up the body,"

"I got Caroline, Elijah and Kol in place. Jeremy's gonna lead Alaric to us," Stefan stated.

"Woah. Kol is with Elijah?" Ashley asked shocked.

"Yeah. They met up just a few minutes ago," Stefan confirmed.

"Oh," Ashley said wondering why Kol didn't call her back or at least text her.

"Ashley, are you going to get all emotional because your boy toy is ignoring you?" Damon teased.

"He's not my boy toy and he's not ignoring me. Besides we have other stuff to worry about," Ashley said not wanting to talk about it.

"Fine. Stefan, what were you thinking? You just has to let Elena make the choice didn't ya?" Damon asked.

"What would you have done Damon?" Stefan asked.

"Grabbed her, gagged her, thrown her in a well, I don't know anything other than letting her trust Elijah," Damon said.

"You know she'd just hate you for it right?" Stefan asked Damon.

"Yeah but she'd be alive and she'd hate me. But that's just one difference between you and me brother," Damon told Stefan.

"As soon as we get the stake, hand over the coffin and get out. Alaric's got half the police looking for Klaus's car," Ashley butted in not wanting her brothers to start bickering.

"Got it. Gotta go. The Original sister's here," Damon said then hung up.

"Let's do this," Stefan said nodding to his baby sister; Ashley nodded back.

**Ashley's POV**

I was standing in the middle of the woods with Stefan and Jeremy. I knew that Kol was close by with Caroline and Elijah but I had yet to see him. I wondered if he was mad at me since he didn't return my phone call or text me. All the thoughts were erased when Stefan's phone started ringing. I looked at him as he looked at the phone. He looked up at me and gave me a small nod indicating that Damon was the one calling him. I intended on listening to the conversation between my brothers. Stefan takes a deep breath.

"Damon," Stefan says answering the phone.

"Bad news brother," Damon replies and I start to get worried, "Alaric staked Klaus. He's dead."

I couldn't believe it. Klaus was dead. My eyes grew wide as I realized that all of us could die soon if Klaus was telling the truth about turning our bloodline. My mind then raced to the thought of Kol and how he would react when he found out his brother was dead.

"I feel okay. Do you feel anything Ash?" Stefan said looking at me; I shook my head no. "Damon, we feel fine. What about you?"

"I feel fine," Damon said.

"It took Sage about an hour before she got sick," Stefan stated.

"Yeah or Klaus was lying about being the sire of our bloodline," Damon said.

"Well if he wasn't lying, an hour isn't enough time to get you back to Mystic Falls," Stefan said to Damon and I looked down hoping that I would get to see Damon again.

"Time for us to have our epic goodbye Stefan?" Damon asked.

"Not us brother. You and Elena," Stefan said with his voice almost cracking; Damon paused for a moment.

"Well I guess you'll just have to say goodbye for the both of us," Damon replied.

"Call me if you or Ashley start to cough up a lung," Damon said and with that, I could hear the phone click. Stefan looked at me and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe that any of this was happening.

"Stefan, Elena's not at home," Jeremy said making me and Stefan look at him. "Matt and I...we're getting her out of town."

"It's gonna be fine. Klaus was lying. We're all going to be okay," Stefan said trying to convince himself of that.

I got ready to say something when Caroline, Kol, and Elijah all walked up to us. I looked at Kol and started to tear up knowing that he just lost another brother.

"What happened?" Elijah asked knowing something was wrong; we all just looked at each other for a moment.

"Stefan," Caroline said trying to figure out what was going on.

I couldn't take it any more. I just wanted to be there for Kol so I soon found myself running into his arms sobbing.

"I'm so sorry," I managed to say before feeling his arms wrap around me.

"No..." Kol said trailing off knowing that something bad had happened to Klaus.

"It's Niklaus isn't it?" Elijah asked his voice trembling; Stefan nodded.

"Oh my god! Tyler! I have to go check on Tyler!" Caroline yelled before running off in a panic.

I turned around and looked at Stefan not realizing that Tyler was soon going to die.

"Tyler's going to die," I say slowly; Stefan just looks at me and Jeremy and we both start to sob more.

A few minutes have passed and I decided to give Kol some time with Elijah and Rebekah. Me and Stefan were walking through the woods. Stefan's phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" Stefan answers the phone.

"You're alive. Congratulations," I hear Rebekah's voice on the other end; I look at Stefan as we walk.

"Rebekah," Stefan said surprised for it to be her.

"Elijah spoke to Elena. Her and Matt should be arriving back in town any minute," Rebekah explained.

"Yeah he told me that. He also said that you two would be out of town by now," Stefan said as me and him got into his car.

"That's the problem. Elijah says we have to run and that the hunter will keep coming after us but I don't want to run anymore Stefan. I've spent my whole life running," Rebekah replied to Stefan.

"What are you talking about? We had a deal," Stefan said.

"I'm sorry but Klaus is dead. There is no deal. If my brothers and I are going to survive, we need to get rid of Alaric and the only way to get rid of Alaric…" Rebekah trailed off; I looked at Stefan in horror.

"Rebekah no," Stefan warned knowing what she was getting at; the line goes dead. "No!"

"Stefan! What are we going to do?!" I asked in a panic.

"Get out! Go to Klaus's house and try to find Elijah! Tell him what's going on!" Stefan told me.

"But what about you?" I asked him.

"I'll be fine. I need to go save Elena. Ash I love you," Stefan said knowing this could be the last time they talk to each other.

"I love you too Stef," I said with tears pushing in my eyes. I quickly speed out of the car and run through the woods and speed myself to Klaus's house. I knock on the door and moments later, Kol opens it.

"Ashley," Kol said looking somewhat surprised; I walk in.

"Is Elijah here?" I asked looking around.

"No. I'm not sure where he is. It's just me here," Kol said.

"Rebekah's trying to kill Elena so Alaric will die and Stefan is going to try and save Elena but I'm worried that he's going to die and Damon isn't even here and I-" I ramble on before Kol stops me by hugging me.

"Shh it's okay," Kol said trying to comfort me.

"I thought you were mad at me," I said pulling away from him.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Kol asked me as he gently stroked my cheek.

"Because my brothers desiccated your brother and now he's dead. Kol, I'm so sorry about Klaus," I said honestly; Kol sighs.

"Darling, it's okay. Yeah it's awful about Klaus but I'm kind of getting used to losing siblings, you know?" Kol said slightly looking down; I lift his chin up and make him look at me.

"I wish you would let more people see your humanity," I said to him.

"You're the only one worth it," Kol said to me making me smile; I lean in and crash my lips onto his. His lips meet mine with the same amount of passion. I feel the urge to tell him. I needed to let him know how I felt about him. I pull away and stare into his vulnerable eyes.

"Kol, I love you," I blurt out; Kol's jaw drops almost instantly.

"What?" He asked.

"I love you. I'm in love with you Kol. And I know it's wrong because we're supposed to hate each other but I guess from the beginning you and me just connected and I just fell for you. And yes, people are going to disapprove but I don't care because I love you," I ramble on; Kol gives me a sweet smile.

"I love you too darling," Kol said to me.

"You do?" I asked him shocked.

"Yes. I'm in love with you Ashley Salvatore," Kol said with a smile; I grin at him and kiss him with a lot of passion. He deepens the kiss and then my phone rings. We pull away and I pull my phone out of my pocket.

"It's Stefan," I say as I start to worry; I answer the phone, "Stefan, is everything okay?"

"No. Listen, Rebekah made Matt wreck off the Wickery Bridge. I jumped in to save him and Elena but Elena told me to save Matt first. I got him to safety but by time I got to Elena...it was too late," Stefan said devastated.

"Elena's…dead?" I asked as I start to sob.

"Well, I took her to the hospital. Ash, Dr. Fell healed her this morning with vampire blood," Stefan told her; my eyes get huge and I looked at Kol shocked.

"Elena's a vampire," I said putting two and two together.

"Yeah. She hasn't woke up yet but when she does, she'll be in transition," Stefan said.

"Okay where are you at?" I asked.

"The hospital," Stefan said.

"Alright I'll be right there," I said then hung up.

"Wow talk about an unexpected day," Kol said hearing mine and Stefan's conversation.

"Yeah. Um listen, I have to go," I stated.

"No go ahead. Your brother needs you and Elena is going to need you too once she wakes up," Kol reassured me; I nodded and gave him a quick kiss.

"Thank you. I love you," I said; Kol smiled.

"I love you too. Call or text me later," Kol said.

"I will," I said then left. I speed to the hospital and finds out where Elena and Stefan are. I walk into the room and see Elena laying on a table dead and Stefan sitting by the table sobbing. He looks up when he hears me walk into the room. I walk to him and he stands up. I then quickly embrace him in a hug and he wraps his arms around me and we both stand there crying knowing that human Elena was gone and was never coming back.


	10. Growing Pains

**This is the third part of the updates! Thank you to everyone who reads this! Hope you guys like it! Enjoy! :)**

_Growing Pains_

**Ashley's POV**

About 6 hours have passed since Elena died. Stefan was torn up about it. It didn't help that Damon was hounding him and blaming everything on him. Damon was just mad. I wasn't sure how he felt about Elena becoming a vampire but I knew he was mad that Stefan saved Matt first instead of Elena. As for me...I wasn't sure how I felt. I knew I felt sorry for Elena because I knew this isn't what she wanted. I've been there. I didn't want to be a vampire either and honestly, I wanted to die rather than complete the transition but Stefan and Damon wouldn't let me. All in all, I was numb. I couldn't believe what had happened today. Not only is Elena going to wake up in transition but my mind was still trying to grasp the fact that Klaus was dead. When Stefan and Damon took Elena's dead body home from the hospital, I had slipped out and went to see Kol...except he wasn't there. Rebekah told me that he said he just wanted some time alone and left which I understood but now I was starting to worry. I didn't want him to do something he'd regret since he was grieving his brother's death. Now I just sat in Elena's room with my brothers waiting for Elena to wake up. All of a sudden, Elena gasped and shot up making all of us look at her.

**General POV**

"Stefan," Elena said looking around.

"Hey. I'm right here," Stefan said rubbing Elena's leg.

"What happened?" Elena asked.

"You were in an accident," Stefan said not ready to tell her all of this.

"Oh my god. Matt! Is he-" Elena started to panic before Damon cut her off.

"Alive? Ask Stefan the hero," Damon said with a cocky attitude; Ashley fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"He's fine," Stefan confirmed.

"Thank you," Elena said with a sigh of relief. "I thought that I...how did you-"

"Save you? He didn't," Damon stated.

"Damon," Ashley said finally shaking her head at Damon.

"When Jeremy brought you to the hospital, your injuries were worse than anyone knew. Meredith Fell used Damon's blood to heal you," Stefan explained.

"And when Rebekah ran Matt's truck off the road, you had vampire blood in your system Elena," Damon concluded.

"Oh my god. Does that mean that I...am I dead?!" Elena started to panic with tears quickly filling her eyes; Stefan and Ashley just looked down while Damon stared at Elena. "No no no no. That wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Maybe it doesn't have to. I talked to Bonnie. She said she's stronger than ever. There might be something she can do to help you," Stefan said trying to comfort Elena.

"No the only thing that's going to help is for you to feed and for you to complete the transition," Damon said.

"We have all day before she has to feed Damon," Ashley said.

"Yeah we need to get her out of this," Stefan backed Ashley up.

"There is no way out of it! We all know the drill. You feed or you die. There is no door number three," Damon snapped at Stefan.

"I was ready to die. I was supposed to die. I don't wanna be...I can't be a vampire! If there's something that Bonnie can do, we have to try," Elena sobbed out.

"We will. We'll try anything," Stefan said to Elena; she looked at Damon.

"Your choice Elena. As always," Damon said then got up and left the room; Stefan sighed.

"I'll be right back," Stefan said and got up and followed Damon.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" Elena asked looking at Ashley.

"Yeah of course," Ashley answered.

"How did you feel when you were in transition?" Elena asked her.

"Honestly, like you're feeling. I didn't wanna be a vampire either. That was the last thing I wanted but Stefan and Damon gave me no choice. They wouldn't let me just die," Ashley answered.

"Does it get better?" Elena questioned.

"I don't know. People handle blood better than others. For me and Damon it was easy. But for Stefan, it's not. I think thirst control is the hardest part but you're not alone Elena. We're gonna be by your side and help you every step of the way," Ashley responded and sat by her on the bed; she put her arm around Elena. "You'll be okay. I promise."

"Thank you Ash," Elena replied and put her head on Ashley's shoulder.

"You're welcome," Ashley said.

A few hours have passed and Ashley was getting ready to leave her house to go on a search for Kol because she was starting to get worried. She stepped outside her house only to feel a needle jab into her neck. Her first instinct was to attack whoever it was but she soon felt herself getting dizzy and she passed out. The next thing Ashley knew, she was waking up in a van with vervain ropes tied around her. She looked around and realized that Rebekah was sitting next to her unconscious. Ashley sighed and rested her head against the van. Just a few minutes later, Rebekah woke up and started to struggle against the ropes.

"Vervain ropes," Ashley said making Rebekah look at her. "Looks like Alaric ratted us all out the council."

"The council? What exactly do they think they can do to me?" Rebekah asked; Ashley shrugged. "How did you even get in this mess?"

"I was getting ready to go out and look for Kol since I hadn't heard from him and as I walked out the door, a needle jabbed into my neck and next thing I know, I'm waking up like this," Ashley explained.

" So are you and Kol like dating now?" Rebekah asked with a small smirk; Ashley smiled a little.

"I'm not sure if you would call it dating but we love each other," Ashley replied.

"Well how cute. I'm happy for you Ashley," Rebekah said.

"You know Rebekah, I actually believe that," Ashley replied.

"That's because it's true," Rebekah said smiling; Ashley returned the smile.

All of a sudden the van crashes and tips over on it's side. Ashley and Rebekah groan in pain and shock from what just happened.

"What the hell happened?" Rebekah asked.

Before Ashley could respond, the back doors to the van open up and Tyler is standing there.

"Tyler?" Ashley asked shocked.

"I'm harder to kill than you think," Tyler replied untying Ashley from the ropes.

"You're alive! How are you alive?" Ashley asked still in shock.

"No time. Come on. We gotta go," Tyler answered helping Ashley up.

"But Rebekah-" Ashley started to say but Tyler cut her off.

"She'll be fine. She's an Original. She die easily. Let's go," Tyler urged Ashley; Ashley and Tyler take off and speed away and end up in the woods.

"Do you have your phone with you? I need to call Stefan and Damon but I don't have my phone," Ashley said to the person she thought was Tyler.

"No I don't. So what were you doing in that van anyway?" Tyler asked.

"I was getting ready to go and look for Kol and I got injected with a needled then passed out," Ashley explained.

"You and Kol huh?" Tyler asked trying not to sound jealous.

"Yeah and save the lecture okay? I've already been hounded enough," Ashley said not wanting to hear any more lectures.

"Your brothers aren't happy about it are they?" Tyler asked her.

"No but honestly, I don't care. You know, Kol isn't the person everyone thinks he is. He's really sweet underneath it all," Ashley stated with a small smile.

"Really? Then why were you searching for him? Did he run off on you?" Tyler asked.

"No. He just needed some space since Klaus's death. I think he blames me for it since it was Stefan and Damon who desiccated him. If he wasn't desiccated, Alaric wouldn't have killed him. But anyway, Kol will be fine. He just needed some space and I just wanted to make sure he was okay," Ashley explained.

"Do you...love him?" Tyler hesitated.

"Yeah I do. And he loves me," Ashley said with a small smile.

"He doesn't love you!" Tyler snapped.

"Woah, easy Ty," Ashley said shocked.

"No! He doesn't love you! You can't love him! He's not the person you think he is!" Tyler yelled at her.

"And how do you know Tyler?!" Ashley countered.

"Because I know my brother!" Tyler yelled without realizing what he was saying.

"Your...brother?" Ashley said confused then her eyes got huge as she realization hit her. "You're Klaus! Where is Tyler?!"

"Oh relax. He'll be back in his body in no time then I can be in mine," Klaus stated.

"You bastard. You made me open up to you about Kol," Ashley said beside herself that Klaus would do that to her.

"Love, I meant what I said about Kol. He doesn't love you," Klaus said; instead of Ashley saying anything in response, she punched him in the face.

"Everytime I think you can change, you prove me wrong," Ashley said shaking her head; with that, she walked away.

* * *

About an hour had passed and Ashley was sitting on the couch at the boarding house waiting to hear from anyone. She didn't care if it was Stefan, Damon, Elena or Kol. She just knew that Damon had left to go rescue Stefan and Elena and that Kol wasn't picking up the phone still. Her thoughts were then interrupted by Damon and Stefan walking in.

"Thank god you guys are okay!" Ashley said jumping up and running over to them and hugging them; they hugged her back.

"You can't get rid of us that easily," Stefan said with a small smile which Ashley returned.

"I'm going to bed. It's been a long day," Damon said and walked upstairs.

"Is he okay?" Ashley asked Stefan.

"He'll be alright. He's right though. It has been a long day," Stefan answered.

"Yes it has. So did Elena…"Ashley started to say before trailing off.

"She completed the transition. She's a vampire," Stefan confirmed.

"And I take it she's not happy about that?" Ashley asked already knowing the answer.

"She's not sure how to feel yet. But she'll get through this," Stefan said.

"Okay. Listen, I gotta run someplace real quick but I'll be back in a little bit," Ashley said knowing she had to go find Kol.

"Okay," Stefan said nodding; Ashley gave him a small smile then left.

* * *

After about twenty minutes of searching for Kol, Ashley was about to give up for the night. She was walking back to her house when she saw Kol coming her way.

"Kol! I've been trying to reach you all day!" Ashley said shocked that she finally found him.

"Yeah sorry. I needed some time," Kol said and hugged her; Ashley breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her arms around him.

"It's okay. I understand. There's something you need to know though. Klaus isn't dead. He's-" Ashley started to say before Kol cut her off.

"In Tyler's body. I know. Me and Rebekah had a run in with him a little bit ago and he's back in his normal body," Kol stated; Ashley nodded.

"So are you okay?" Ashley asked Kol.

"I will be after I do this," Kol stated then kissed Ashley; Ashley grinned at him after they pulled away.

"You wanna stay at my place tonight? Klaus isn't there so it's just Rebekah right now and she'll be in bed by now," Kol said feeling nervous.

"I would love to," Ashley said with a smile and intertwined her hand with Kol's hand.

* * *

Kol and Ashley got back to the Mikaelson house and went right up to Kol's bedroom. The two started at each other for a moment then took each other in their arms and kissed each other passionately. The kissing intensified and the breathing got heavier. They spent the night making love to each other and never wanting to let each other go.


	11. Memorial

Thanks to everyone who reads this, favorites, follows or reviews this! I had a lot of fun writing this one! Enjoy! :)

Memorial

Ashley woke up the next morning with a big smile on her face. She looked over where Kol was supposed to be laying and she saw he wasn't there but there was a note. She unfolded the note and read it.

Dear Ash,

I'm sorry I'm not here right now but I had some errands to run. Besides, I figured you needed some alone time with your brothers. I know they've probably been fighting since Elena became a vampire. I'll text you or call you later. I love you darling. XOXO-Kol

Ashley smiled and got up. She left quietly so she didn't wake anyone and headed home. When Ashley walked into the boarding house she could hear Stefan and Damon arguing. She rolled her eyes and walked up to Stefan's room where him and Damon were.

"She needs human blood from the vein, Stefan," Damon said.

"Oh come on Damon. You know what happens. Name me one vampire who didn't kill at least one person when they were new," Stefan argued back.

"You name me one who went on the bunny diet and didn't kill dozens," Damon countered.

"Guys! What's going on?" Ashley asked making Stefan and Damon look at her.

"Where have you been all night?" Damon asked her.

"I was out," Ashley answered.

"Were you with Kol all night?" Stefan asked.

"Yes," Ashley answered.

"Ashley! Are you nuts?!" Damon snapped at his sister.

"Look, we love each other and we're going to be together. Now we have bigger things to deal with. I take it you guys are arguing about Elena and how she should feed," Ashley said not wanting to get lectured.

"We aren't through with that conversation," Damon said.

"Well we are right now. Look, maybe Elena should feed from a human. She can have all of us around her and just see how she does," Ashley suggested.

"It's too risky. Once she gets a drop of human blood, she'll want more. If she kills someone, she will crumble. How much pain do you think she can take before she shuts off her humanity switch?" Stefan countered back.

"It happens to the best of us at least once. We get over it Stefan. Give it a hundred years or so," Damon said back.

"I think I'd like her to skip that part," Stefan stated.

"She can't learn to control the blood lust if she's never actually experienced the blood lust," Damon said.

"I hate to say it but I think Damon's right Stefan," Ashley said; Damon smirked and started unpacking Stefan's bag.

"What are you doing? Stop," Stefan ordered Damon.

"It's like a cheat. It's like giving a kid a calculator before they know math," Damon said and kept unpacking the bag.

"I said stop!" Stefan snapped and grabbed Damon's arm; Damon yanked his arm back.

"Guys!" Ashley yelled at them; Elena walked in the room.

"Woah. What's going on?" Elena asked.

"We're just having a little disagreement about the process," Stefan said not taking his eyes off Damon.

"You're still not on board of the animal plan, are you Damon?" Elena asked.

"Nope. I say rip off the band-aid and let it bleed. You're a vampire Elena. Be a vampire," Damon said to Elena.

"Ready to go?" Stefan asked Elena as he grabbed the bag; Elena nodded.

"Vampires eat people. It's part of the natural food pyramid. Trust me. You're gonna be miserable," Damon said.

"We'll see you two later," Stefan said then walked out of the room.

"Bye guys," Elena said then followed Stefan; Damon rolled his eyes.

"Maybe Stefan can do this," Ashley said to Damon.

"Or maybe this is going to backfire in their face," Damon said back.

"Do you want to go get a drink at the grill?" Ashley asked Damon.

"You're trying to butter me up so I don't lecture you about Kol," Damon said; Ashley gave him a small smile which Damon returned. "You're just lucky I need a drink."

Ashley and Damon grinned at each other and left and went to the grill. They sat down at the bar and got their drinks. Soon Liz walked up to them and placed a newspaper in front of Damon.

"Faulty gas line leaves a tragic explosion at Young farm," Damon read off and handed the paper back to Liz. "Really?"

"Better than town council blown up. Police have no suspects. Unless the perpetrator's right next to me," Liz hinted at Damon.

"Well don't look at me. I always take credit for killing people," Damon said with a small smirk; Ashley rolled her eyes at her brother. Liz just stared at Damon. "Seriously stop looking at me like that Liz. If I was going to kill a bunch of people, I wouldn't blow them up. I'd have a dinner party."

"The explosion was sparked from inside. It wasn't an accident," Liz stated.

"You say that like it's a bad thing. The council's dead Liz. I see that as a win," Damon said.

"I've known some of the council since I was a kid. They were my friends," Liz countered back.

"Well your friends tried to kill your daughter," Damon said back.

"Uh not to interrupt but who's the new guy?" Ashley asked motioning toward a guy walking up to them.

"Excuse me sheriff, hi. Um I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute. It's about the explosion at the Young farm," the guy stated.

"I'm sorry Mr…" Liz trailed off.

"Oh. Connor Jordan," Connor said extending his hand; Liz shook his hand. Ashley and Damon exchanged looks before looking back to them.

"Are you with the insurance investigators?" Liz asked him.

"No. I'm more of an independent contractor," Connor said while glancing at Damon and Ashley; they gave him a mocking smile and he turned his attention back to Liz. "Can we speak in private?"

"Sure," Liz said; Connor turned around and started to walk away. Liz gave Damon and Ashley a look before following Connor.

"That was odd," Ashley said.

"Very. That guy seemed suspicious," Damon confirmed.

"Yes he did," Ashley said.

"It might've been your boyfriend. You never know," Damon said looking at his sister; Ashley gave him a look.

"It wasn't Kol. You know, you shouldn't hate on him so much. He's not a bad person," Ashley said trying to get Damon to see a different side of Kol.

"Not that bad? He ambushed us in Denver. Did you forget that?" Damon asked his sister.

"He only did that because of Klaus. He's really a good person underneath it all," Ashley stated; Damon sighed.

"I have to call our brother and tell him about our little faulty gas line situation," Damon said changing the subject.

"Fine. You do that, I'm going to the bathroom," Ashley said and went to the bathroom.

Several minutes later, Ashley and Damon were both still at the grill, sitting at the bar.

"Did you do it?" Elena asked walking up to them and looking at Damon. "Did you set off the explosion that killed off the town council?"

"Am I wearing my 'I blew up the council' t-shirt?" Damon asked sarcastically; Ashley sighed because she felt bad for Damon. "Why does everybody keep asking me that?"

"Did you?" Elena asked.

"No. Anything else?" Damon said; Elena looked at Ashley.

"He didn't do it Elena," Ashley replied; Elena sighed.

"There is something else. Something's wrong. I can't keep any of the animal blood down," Elena whispered.

"Well there's a shock," Damon said with a mocking grin; Elena gave him a look.

"I think I need your help," Elena replied; Damon sighed.

"Of course you do. Pick your meal. You got Asian, Mexican, or good ole American comfort food," Damon said motioning around them; Elena shook her head.

"No. No human blood. Stefan's right. I have to at least try to get through this without hurting anyone," Elena stated.

"Fine. Come on," Damon said standing up and grabbing Elena and pulling her off the seat. "Ashley, I'll be right back."

With that, Damon dragged Elena off. A few minutes later, Damon returned to the bar.

"You let her drink off of you didn't you?" Ashley asked Damon.

"Maybe," Damon responded.

"You know Stefan's going to flip out right?" Ashley asked.

"I know. But I'll handle him. I'll tell him about it," Damon said.

"Okay. Well, speaking of Stefan, I'm going to go see what he's up to," Ashley said standing up.

"Hey, not a word to him about any of this," Damon said.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Ashley said back and left; she went home and walked into the living room and saw Tyler laying on the couch, Caroline standing by the couch and Stefan digging something out of Tyler's chest. "What's going on?"

"There's a vampire hunter in town and he shot Tyler," Caroline said as Stefan pulled out a bullet from Tyler's chest.

"These were specially carved. The length, the width. If you were a normal vampire, you'd be dead," Stefan said examining the bullet.

"This guy knew what he was doing. His gloves must have been steeped with vervain. He was looking for a vampire and he didn't hesitate for a second when he found one," Tyler said.

"These etchings…" Stefan said as he touched one of the bullet but instantly withdrew his hand when it zapped him.

"Are the bullets spelled?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know. They're something," Stefan stated.

A few hours passed and Ashley was with Damon helping him get a dress for Elena and they are walking back to the church. Damon is on the phone to Elena.

"I'm here. Where are you?" Damon asked Elena.

"I'm in the basement bathroom," Elena answered. "Is that you at the door?"

"Not yet," Damon answered.

"Damon hurry," Elena said; Damon hung up.

"Come on," Damon said and started jogging; Ashley jogged with him.

Ashley and Damon get to the bathroom and see Connor sitting close by.

"You again? Stalking small town funerals?" Damon asked with a smirk when the door opened up and Elena peaked her head out.

"Sorry. I spilled coffee all over my dress," Elena said looking at Connor then she went back into the bathroom. Connor stood up and walked up to the Salvatores.

"We have not met yet. I'm Connor Jordan," Connor said extending his hand to Damon.

"Damon. Germaphobe," Damon said not wanting to shake his hand; Connor looked at Ashley.

"Ashley. Same," Ashley said and Damon smiled.

"Everything okay in there?" Damon asked through the door.

"Yeah just a minute," Elena answered.

"So what brings you to Mystic Falls Connor?" Ashley asked.

"I'm in environmental cleanup. Heard you had a little bit of a pollution problem," Connor answered.

"Huh. Well we weren't aware," Damon replied; Elena walked out and looked at Connor.

"I'm so sorry that took so long," Elena said to him.

"No problem," Connor responded.

"Well enjoy your stay. We love visitors and the scenery is to die for," Damon said then fake gasped. "Funeral pun. Too soon. Sorry."

Elena, Ashley and Damon all walked away and walked outside. They walk out by a tree.

"Did you bring the blood bag?" Elena asked.

"Here," Damon said pulling a blood bag out of a bag and handing it to Elena; she rips it open and starts drinking it. Soon she starts spitting it back up and she hands the blood bag back to Damon.

"I can't. What's wrong with me?" Elena asked.

"Maybe it's your doppelganger blood. You're rejecting the transition," Ashley suggested.

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Elena asked scared.

"No you're not dying. You just need to drink from the vein," Damon said.

"No. I can't risk killing anyone Damon. Maybe I'm better off dead," Elena said.

"Don't think like that. Elena, you'll be fine," Damon said and brushed some hair behind her ear; Damon and Elena stared at each other while Ashley stood there awkwardly. The church bells started to ring breaking up their moment.

"I have to get back inside," Elena said and walked away; Damon put the blood bag back in the bag. Stefan walked up to Damon and Ashley.

"What's in the bag Damon?" Stefan asked already knowing the answer.

"He brought it for Elena," Ashley answered for Damon.

"You really that intent on having your way?" Stefan asked Damon.

"It's not my way. It's the only way," Damon answered.

"If she hurts someone, she'll be desperate to turn the guilt off. Maybe even desperate enough to shut off her humanity," Stefan said.

"And what? Become a ripper?" Damon asked mockingly.

"Damon…" Ashley warned.

"I can't let her be anything like me," Stefan said.

"Well god forbid she's anything like me if that's really what you're thinking," Damon countered.

"Guys come on," Ashley said trying to get them to stop.

"She's going to go off the rails anyway Stefan so the faster we can make it happen, the sooner we can get her back on track," Damon stated.

"She's strong. If we help her, she can survive this," Stefan compromised.

"She's starving Stefan. She hasn't been able to keep blood down for days," Damon countered.

"What are you talking about? She told me that she's fine," Stefan asked confused.

"Well then she lied. Your four legged protein shake was a bust, juice box was a no-no, she can't even keep my blood down," Damon said and Ashley's eyes got wide as she looked at Stefan.

"She drank from you?" Stefan asked with his face drained.

"Oops. Did I say that out loud?" Damon said and walked away; Ashley shook her head and looked at Stefan.

"I'm sorry Stef. Let's just go in," Ashley suggested; Stefan nodded and they walked into the church. They walked up to Tyler and Caroline.

"What are you doing here Tyler?" Stefan asked.

"Being sensitive to the community's loss," Tyler answered.

"With a hunter out to get you?" Stefan asked again.

"I'm not letting a hunter stop me from where I'm supposed to be," Tyler replied.

"Also, if he shows his face, I'm going to kick his ass," Caroline said; Ashley smiled.

"Come on Stefan," Ashley said and her and Stefan took their seats.

"Before we begin the mass, we would like to open the floor to anyone who would like to share a memory about our late friends on the town council. I know that April Young wanted to say a few words about her dad. April? April are you still here honey? Is there anyone else who would like to share anything about Pastor Young?" Carol said beginning the service; Elena stood up. "Come on up Elena."

Elena walked up to the podium as Damon walked into the service. Ashley and Stefan looked back at him then turned their attention back to Elena. Damon sits down beside Ashley and Stefan.

"She doesn't look so good," Damon said.

"Maybe you should've told me she was rejecting all food sources," Stefan countered back; Ashley sighed.

"Here we go," Ashley said hinting at her brother's arguing.

"Jealousy's beneath you brother," Damon said.

"Bite me," Stefan countered.

"Will you guys both shut up?" Ashley snapped at them; Stefan and Damon went quiet.

"I um, when I talked to April earlier, she was kinda nervous about coming up to speak and uh, I'm kinda nervous too," Elena said taking a deep breath; Damon, Stefan and Ashley all exchanged a look and looked back at Elena. "The worst day of loving someone is the day that you lose them."

"Do you smell that?" Caroline asked smelling blood.

"Blood," Tyler answered.

Elena started smelling it and her breathing started getting really heavy.

"Nobody move. Don't turn around. It's a trap," Damon said.

"I um…," Elena trailed off trying to get her bloodlust under control. "I-"

Stefan went up and helped Elena by grabbing her and comforting her.

"I got ya," Stefan said and helped Elena back to her seat with Jeremy and Matt; Damon and Ashley watched concerned.

The preacher went to the podium and announced a song to everyone and the people started singing.

"The blood. Stefan, I can smell the blood," Elena said gripping onto Stefan.

"It's alright. Just remember what we talked about. Focus and push it back. Come on. You can do this," Stefan said holding on to her tight.

"What's wrong with her?" Matt asked.

"She's hungry. She hasn't fed," Stefan answered.

"So her out of here," Matt said.

"We can't. There's somebody watching us," Stefan said.

"I'm going to go rip his head off now," Damon said.

"You do that Damon and you risk exposing all of us," Stefan stated.

"I think the risk will be slightly diminished when I...you know, rip his head off," Damon said.

"Stefan I'm losing it!" Elena said gripping onto Stefan really hard.

"You have ten seconds before I go old fashioned on the new guy," Damon said.

"Don't do it Damon," Ashley warned.

Three, two, one, bye," Damon said and got ready to move; Ashley grabbed onto his hand.

"Wait wait wait. Feed from me," Matt suggested; Damon, Ashley, Caroline and Tyler all turned their attention towards Matt.

"It's okay. Everyone will think you're just upset. Just feed from me," Matt said; Elena looked to Stefan for confirmation and he nodded. Matt took Elena in his arms and hugged her. "It's okay. You're okay."

Elena bit into Matt's neck and started feeding from him. She drank a little bit and pulled away from him.

"The blood. I can still smell it. It's gotta be April. We have to help her," Elena said to Stefan and got ready to move when Stefan stopped her.

"Elena we can't risk it," Stefan said.

"Then I'm gonna do it," Elena said getting ready to move again.

Just then Tyler decided to make a move and walked up to the podium.

"Excuse me, I just wanted to say a few words about Pastor Young," Tyler said and everyone in the audience sat down. "Back in first grade, I was a brat that couldn't be bothered with team sports. I didn't care much about anything that didn't affect me but he was the one that made me understand how important it is to be part of a team, a community, of giving yourself up for the sake of-"

Just then Tyler got shot and fell to the ground. Everyone started screaming and gathering out of there. Damon left to go track down the hunter and Ashley, Stefan, Elena and Caroline ran up to Tyler; Caroline pulled the stake out of Tyler and he gasped and started coughing.

"I'm gonna kill that bastard," Tyler said.

"Damon's way ahead of you," Ashley said then looked at Stefan. "We gotta go help him."

"Stay here," Stefan said to Elena.

"What about April?" Elena asked.

"I got it. Go," Caroline said and Ashley and Stefan took off.

About a minute later, Stefan and Ashley are outside searching for Damon.

"Damon!" Stefan yelled; Ashley looked over and saw Damon laying on the ground and Connor leaving.

"Damon!" Ashley yelled running over to him with Stefan on her heels.

"Ow," Damon said while still lying on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked him.

"Yeah I'll be fine," Damon answered; Stefan offered him an hand and Damon took it. Stefan started to pull him up then he punched Damon in the face. Damon groaned in pain.

"Oh come on!" Ashley yelled sick of her brothers fighting.

"What the hell was that for?" Damon asked.

"You know what," Stefan answered and walked away; Ashley shook her head and helped Damon up.

"Is it a crime for you two to get along for just one day?" Ashley asked.

"Yep," Damon asked with a small smirk; Ashley just kept shaking her head.

* * *

Later on that night, Damon and Ashley got out of Damon's car at the school. Stefan had sent them a text telling them to meet there. Bonnie was just arriving there also.

"What are we doing here?" Damon asked.

"I don't know," Bonnie answered. "Ask Stefan."

Damon, Bonnie and Ashley walked up to everyone else. Stefan was handing out lanterns to everyone.

"Stefan, what are we doing?" Ashley asked.

"We're finishing the memorial we didn't get to have earlier," Stefan answered. "We need to start healing, Ash. We've all lost so much, especially recently. We think we're numb to it. We push it away, we make a joke out of it, ignore how we feel, never just let ourselves grieve."

"So you're lighting lanterns?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. We need to do this," Stefan replied back.

"What we need to do is figure out who this hunter is and find out what he knows about the death of the council. We have more important things to be doing right now than this," Damon said feeling annoyed.

"Not tonight we don't," Stefan said; Damon laughed like it was a joke.

"This is for my Uncle Zack, for my friend Lexi, for Alaric," Stefan said lighting his lantern then handing the lighter to Matt.

"This is for Vicki," Matt said and lit his lantern and handed the lighter to Caroline.

"This is for my dad. And Tyler's," Caroline announced and lit her lantern and handed the lighter to Jeremy.

"This for our parents, for Vicki, Anna, Jenna and Alaric," Jeremy stated and lit his lantern and tried to hand the lighter to Damon.

"No way. I'm not doing this," Damon said and started to walk away.

"Damon," Ashley said trying to get him to stop but he got in his car and left; Ashley looked at Stefan and nodded. She grabbed a lantern and the lighter from Jeremy. "This is for Alaric and Lexi."

Stefan gave her a small smile which she returned. She handed the lighter to Bonnie.

"This is for my grams," Bonnie said and lit her lantern and handed the lighter to Elena.

"This is for my mom, my dad, Jenna, everyone that you've all lost, everyone that this town has lost, and for me I guess," Elena said lighting her lantern; everyone let their lanterns go and watched them float up into the air.

Stefan put his arm around Ashley and she snuggled into him.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Mikaelson mansion, Kol was just getting home from all the errands he had to run that day. He walked into his room and could sense that Klaus followed him into the room.

"What do you want Klaus?" Kol asked looking at him; Kol was shocked to see Klaus holding up the note that Kol had left on his bed for Ashley that morning.

"What is this?" Klaus asked his younger brother.

"It's none of your business. That's what it is," Kol answered.

"Our darling female Salvatore left you a message of her own at the bottom of this," Klaus said smirking. Kol's jaw tightened as he was getting mad at Klaus. Klaus read off what Ashley had wrote that morning, "Dear Kol, it's okay. I understand. I do appreciate that you're giving me time with my brothers considering you hate them. But tomorrow, you're all mine. I love you more than words can express. XOXO- Ashley."

"Niklaus, you had no right to take that!" Kol yelled at his brother; Klaus's smirk quickly fell from his face.

"What is this crap? You guys are on an 'I love you' basis now?" Klaus asked.

"So what if we are?" Kol countered back; Klaus mimicked a laugh.

"You don't love her," Klaus shot back at him.

"You don't know anything about me and her Niklaus. We love each other and we're together," Kol said and Klaus's face drained.

"You're lying," Klaus accused.

"I'm not. You know she spent the night here last night. We made our relationship official last night if you know what I mean," Kol said with a smirk; Klaus got very angry.

"You're pathetic Kol!" Klaus snapped and threw the note at him and left the room; Kol smirked in victory knowing he had just won that round.


	12. The Rager

**Thank you to everyone who reads this, favorites, follows or reviews this story! Hope you guys like this chapter! Enjoy! :)**

_The Rager_

The next morning, Ashley walked downstairs and saw Damon.

"Morning Damon!" Ashley said with a smile.

"Morning Ash!" Damon said returning the smile.

"Where's the other one?" Ashley asked referring to Stefan.

"I'm not sure. Haven't seen him this morning," Damon answered her.

They hear a noise coming from outside so they walk to the door and Damon opens it. There they see Stefan working on his motorcycle.

"Good day for a midlife crisis?" Damon asked sarcastically. "164 years...I say you're due."

"Elena's transition to a vampire has been a little depressing. I wanna help her have some fun," Stefan said sitting on his motorcycle.

"Well, those who can't do, teach," Damon said as him and Ashley walked outside.

"I see we're still fighting," Stefan said. "Got it. Where you going?"

"That hunter jacked Tyler Lockwood of his werewolf venom last night so basically he's got vampire poison in a bottle. And I'm gonna find him and I'm gonna eat him," Damon explained.

"I'll go with you," Stefan offered.

"I don't want your help. I just wanna kill this guy and get the hell out of town," Damon said.

"Out of town?" Ashley asked looking at Damon; Stefan was looking at Damon confused.

"Wasn't that the deal? Whoever Elena doesn't choose, leaves?" Damon said.

"That was before she turned," Stefan said.

"And I stayed to help. If I take you punching me as the first clue, I'm not wanted here anymore," Damon stated.

"Damon-" Ashley started to say before Stefan cut her off.

"Listen, you blood shared with my girlfriend and I punched you in the face. You deserved it. Why don't you stop being dramatic?" Stefan remarked back.

"No brother. Dramatic would be leaving before I kill this hunter," Damon said then walked away; Ashley looked at Stefan.

"Don't look at me like that," Stefan told her.

"Look I get that Elena feeding off Damon was wrong but get over it. We're family and we have a hunter trying to kill us all. I'm telling you right now, if Damon leaves, I will never forgive you," Ashley said and walked away from Stefan; Stefan sighed.

* * *

Ashley ended up ditching school and going to the place she needed to go. She knocked on the door and seconds later, it opened.

"Hello darling. What a nice surprise," Kol said grinning; Ashley gave him a small smile. "Something wrong?"

Instead of answering, Ashley walked in and flung herself into Kol's arms. He quickly reacted wrapping both arms tightly around her.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Kol asked concerned.

"I think Damon's going to leave town," Ashley stated.

"What do you mean?" Kol asked.

"I don't know. I guess him and Stefan made a deal that whoever Elena didn't chose would leave town. And that would be Damon. He's talking about leaving town and him and Stefan are fighting and it's just a mess," Ashley said looking at Kol.

"I don't think he could leave even if he wanted to. He wouldn't leave you. If him and Stefan are fighting, he would leave Stefan. Not you," Kol said trying to comfort her.

"But he's left me before and that's what scares me. Kol, me and Damon are closer than we've ever been and I can't lose him," Ashley said wanting to cry.

"Maybe you should go with him," Kol suggested.

"I can't. I don't want to leave Stefan and all my friends. And you," Ashley said; Kol gave her a small smile.

"It'll all be okay. I promise," Kol said gently stroking her cheek. "I'll compel Damon to stay if I have to."

Ashley and Kol both chuckled.

"You always make me feel better. What would I do without you?" Ashley asked.

"Well luckily for you, killing me isn't easy so you won't have to find out," Kol stated and Ashley gave him a smile. "I do have to tell you something though."

"What?" Ashley asked him.

"Niklaus knows about us. That we're officially together," Kol told her.

"Oh boy. And I take it he's not going to throw us a party?" Ashley said with a slight laugh; Kol laughed also.

"No I think a party is out of the question. But he'll have to accept it. Did you tell your brothers?" Kol asked.

"Sort of. I'm still kinda working on that one," Ashley said.

"Everything's going to be okay darling. All that matters is we're together, we love each other and we're happy together. That's not going to change," Kol said sweetly to her.

"I love you so much," Ashley said to him staring into his eyes.

"I love you more," Kol said and kissed her with a lot of passion. Ashley returned the passion in the kiss and deepened it more. Kol started to place kisses on her jawline as she giggled. He started to kiss her neck as she tried to keep from letting out a moan.

"Kol, is anyone here?" Ashley asked breathlessly.

"Just me and you darling," Kol answered as he kept kissing her neck.

"Good," Ashley said seductively and shove him hard against the wall and ripped his shirt off. Kol smirked and took control and the two made love to each other.

* * *

An hour had passed and Kol and Ashley were laying on a blanket in the middle of the floor with a sheet wrapped over them.

"I really hope no one walks in right now," Ashley said giggling as she laid her head on Kol's chest; Kol chuckled and put his arm around Ashley.

"It'd just be Rebekah or Niklaus. Rebekah would just laugh. Niklaus would probably try to kill me," Kol said as him and Ashley both laughed.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," Ashley said snuggling into Kol.

"Me too darling," Kol said.

Ashley's phone started ringing and she looked at it.

"It's one of my other men. Hang on," Ashley said then answered the phone. "Hey Damon."

"Hey. You busy?" Damon asked.

"Yeah," Ashley answered.

"Well too bad. You're going to help me with something. Meet me at the hospital in 20 minutes," Damon said then hung up; Ashley rolled her eyes then looked at Kol.

"Really? He's such a pain in the-" Kol started to say before Ashley put a finger over his mouth.

"Easy. He's still my brother and he could be leaving. I need to cherish these moments. Besides, he needs to approve of you," Ashley said with a small smile.

"But I need to cherish these moments," Kol said with a smirk as he pulled Ashley back down to him and she giggled.

"I'll text you later okay?" Ashley asked with a grin; Kol nodded and pulled her in for a kiss; Ashley pulled away and smiled. She stood up and got dressed. Kol sat up.

"I love you darling," Kol said.

"I love you too," Ashley said and leaned down and pecked Kol on the lips. "Bye."

"Bye," Kol said and Ashley left.

* * *

20 minutes passed and Ashley got to the hospital. She quickly found Damon and he explained the plan to her.

"I can't believe we're working with Klaus," Ashley said thinking back to when Kol told her that Klaus knew about them.

"I don't like it either but I needed a hybrid and Tyler wasn't available. Why aren't you in school?" Damon asked her.

"I ditched. I wasn't really in the mood to go," Ashley said honestly.

"On the phone you said you were busy. What were you doing?" Damon asked her.

"I was with Kol. Do you really wanna know what we were doing?" Ashley asked with a small smirk on her face.

"Oh my god! That's gross and makes me hate him even more! My baby sister is having sex with an Original," Damon said as Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Damon, can I ask you something?" Ashley said getting serious.

"Is this about sex? Because if it is, I don't wanna hear it. You have another brother to ask about that," Damon said.

"No. It has nothing to do with sex. Were you really serious about leaving?" Ashley asked looking at him; he looked at her and could see the hurt in her eyes.

"We shouldn't be talking about this right now," Damon said avoiding the subject. "Come on."

Ashley sighed and her and Damon got into the position they were supposed to be at.

Within a couple of minutes, Connor walked into the room that Damon and Ashley were in. Damon and Ashley came out of the shadows and came face to face with him.

"Is a hospital really the best place for a germophobe?" Connor asked looking at them.

"Did we say that we were germaphobes? Sorry. We meant vampires," Damon said with a smirk; Connor tried to pull out his gun and shoot them but an arrow went into his arm. Connor fell to the ground as another arrow went into his other arm.

"Stings don't it?" Damon asked; Connor tried reaching for his gun when it was suddenly kicked away.

"Hello mate," Klaus said to Connor; Connor tried to grab the arrows from his arm but he couldn't.

"Keep it up buddy. We'll be scraping you off from the ceiling," Damon stated.

"You three are gonna kill me anyway," Connor said back,

"Well let's not be too hasty. I feel like we're just getting to know each other," Klaus said with a smirk.

"Let's start with the basics. Where you're from, what you know…" Damon trailed off as he took out a piece of paper. "Maybe you can que us in on this greater evil because I fought this guy and there's nothing more evil than that."

Damon motioned towards Klaus and Ashley smiled a little.

"Yeah truth be told I'm as evil as it gets," Klaus said taking the paper from Damon.

"Ain't that the truth," Ashley said and Klaus gave her a small smirk.

"I'm not telling you anything. You think if you kill me it's going to be over? There's another waiting to take my place," Connor said.

"See this is what I like to hear. Vague threats, ominous prophecies, disappearing tattoos," Damon stated.

"What do you mean tattoos?" Klaus asked his smirk slowly falling from his face.

"Don't bother looking for them. You can't see them," Ashley said looking at Klaus; Klaus bends down and looks at Connor.

"There's more to you than what meets the eye isn't there?" Klaus asked; Connor tried to stake Klaus but Klaus catches his arm. "Nice try but I'm faster than your average vampire."

Klaus twisted Connor's arm and grabs the stake from him. He starts to examine the stake.

"You're one of the five," Klaus said breathlessly.

"The what?" Damon asked.

"I'm faster than your average hunter," Connor said as he reached up to blow the place up; Damon realized this and grabbed Ashley and sped out of the room with her. The room blew up and Damon jumped on Ashley as the two fell to the ground with Damon protecting his sister.

"You okay?" Damon asked as him and Ashley slowly sat up.

"Yeah. You?" Ashley asked back.

"Yeah I'm good," Damon said. "I should probably stay here and tell Meredith what happened."

"Okay. I'm going to go see Kol then probably head home," Ashley said and started to walk away.

"Ash?" Damon said making Ashley turn around and look at him. "I won't leave you again."

Ashley grinned and ran into Damon's arms. He grinned also and held her close.

"Go see your boyfriend Ash," Damon said looking at her.

"Does that mean you approve of Kol?" Ashley said biting her lip to keep from grinning.

"One step at a time," Damon said giving her a small smile; Ashley returned the smile and pecked her brother on the cheek and sped off. Damon just chuckled to himself knowing how lucky he was to have an amazing sister.

* * *

Ashley went back to the Mikaelson mansion and knocked on the door. Seconds later Kol opened the door.

"Hello darling. Back for round two?" Kol asked with a smirk; Ashley grinned and flung herself into his arms. Kol kind of laughed and held her close. "What is this for?"

"Because you were right. It's all going to be okay. Damon's not going to leave me," Ashley said looking at Kol now.

"That's great. See you have nothing to worry about," Kol said with a smile on his face.

"Except for a vampire hunter," Ashley said with a small laugh. "Speaking of which, when I went to meet Damon at the hospital, Klaus was with him. Him and Damon made a plan to trap the vampire hunter but it didn't go well."

"Did Niklaus say anything to you?" Kol asked.

"No," Ashley answered.

"Good. If he says anything to you, let me know," Kol said.

"Okay. Well I should get going. It's getting late," Ashley said and pecked Kol on the lips.

"I'll call or text you tomorrow," Kol said with a smile.

"Okay. I love you," Ashley said returning the smile.  
"I love you too," Kol said.

Ashley then left and headed back home. When she got home, there was no sign of Damon so she figured he was still at the hospital. She didn't see Stefan either so she figured he had already went to bed. She went up to her room, changed into her pajamas and laid down on her bed. She thought about how lucky she was to have amazing brothers, loving friends and a great boyfriend. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	13. The Five

**Thank you to anyone who reads, reviews, favorites or follows! Hope you enjoy this chapter! This was a fun one for me to write! Enjoy! :)**

_The Five_

The next morning Ashley, Stefan and Damon were all in the living room of the boarding house and they were looking through Connor's stuff.

"So what is all this?" Stefan asked looking at a stake.

"Personal items that I snaked from the vampire hunter's RV," Damon answered. "May he rest in peace. I'm searching for a supernatural handbook."

"You know for a fact he was supernatural?" Stefan asked.

"He wasn't just natural. That's for sure," Ashley answered.

"Yeah. The guy magically appears just as someone blows up the entire founder's council, he's covered in tattoos that only Jeremy Gilbert can see. Klaus mentioned something about him being one of the five," Damon explained. "And he always carries around explosives. Sound natural to you?"

"What's the five?" Stefan asked.

"We don't know," Ashley answered as Damon's phone starts ringing.

"Miss Forbes, my favorite sheriff," Damon said answering the phone. "What? That's...concerning. Keep me posted."

Damon hung up and Ashley and Stefan exchange looks then look at Damon.

"What? You're not gonna tell me?" Stefan asked.

"I can't tell you. It's private. We're in a fight," Damon responded.

"You're in a fight. I'm not in a fight. I'm over it. I've been over it," Stefan said as Ashley rolled her eyes.

"You're not still mad at me about Elena?" Damon asked Stefan.

"You let her feed on you. I'm always gonna be mad at you. But we're not in a 'fight'," Stefan said.

"And I'm once again stuck in the middle between my two butthead of brothers so Damon, spill," Ashley said looking at Damon.

"Very well then. They didn't find any remains at the explosion sight," Damon explained.

"So Connor's still out there," Ashley replied.

"Apparently so. Stefan, I'm gonna need you to get on this today. I have to take Elena to college," Damon said with a small smile.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"I'm sorry. You have to do what?" Stefan asked after his sister.

"I'm teaching her how to feed. She needs to learn snatch, eat, erase now more than ever," Damon explained; Stefan got ready to object but Damon stopped him. "We're not in a fight remember?"

Damon walked away and Stefan and Ashley stood there shocked.

"He's lost it," Ashley said referring to Damon.

"I have to go talk to Elena," Stefan said and walked away; Ashley just sighed.

* * *

One hour had passed and Damon and Elena had left. Stefan was trying to distract himself so he ended up convincing Ashley to go to Klaus's house with him to see if Klaus had Connor trapped in the house. The two of them were in the room with Connor when Klaus walked in and looked at them.

"Looks like I'll have to beef up the hybrid security detail," Klaus stated.

"I was gonna take him but I figured you went through such trouble to get him here. What'd you get out of him?" Stefan asked looking at Connor.

"Not enough. He's mum about the council fire and he's not saying anything about this greater evil we're all supposed to be shivering over. What brings you two snooping?" Klaus asked looking at the Salvatore siblings.

"Well we can't say it in front of him. As I'm sure you figured out, our friend here can't be compelled," Ashley said to Klaus; Klaus looked at Connor and smirked.

"You're full of mysteries, aren't you?" Klaus asked Connor.

"I told you I don't know anything," Connor said.

"Thankfully, I know plenty," Klaus said and started to walk away. "Shall we?"

Stefan, Ashley and Klaus walked into the other room.

"So what's with the home invasion?" Klaus asked Stefan.

"You know something about this guy," Ashley stated.

"And I should've known you were up to something when you healed Elena from the werewolf poison without asking for anything in return," Stefan concluded. "Who is this guy? What's the five?"

"So many questions," Klaus said smirking.

"It's a good thing we have nothing to do today except get answers out of you," Stefan said with a small smile as him and Ashley sat down on the couch.

"Fine. You might actually be useful in persuading my sister to cooperate. The brotherhood of the five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters. We crossed paths with them in the 12th century in Italy. My siblings and I followed the Normans as they conquered the south. Eating and turning people as we went. But with the bloodshed came exposure," Klaus started to explain.

"So these hunters have been around for 900 years?" Stefan asked.

"Apparently. Though our friend in the other room is the first I've seen since then. Kind of makes you wonder what they've been up to all these years," Klaus said.

"And Rebekah had a thing with one of them?" Ashley asked.

"Oh she didn't just have a thing with him. She fell in love with him," Klaus answered. "He told her all these secrets which I will gladly share with you provided you do one thing for me."

"And what's that?" Stefan asked.

"Get Rebekah over here. She's being stubborn and hateful. I need to make peace with her. I want her to give me some very important information about the hunter which she won't do unless she believes we've made up," Klaus replied.

"And what's in it for us?" Stefan asked.

"Just get her here and I'll tell you. Oh and Stefan, trust me when I say this, that hunter in there holds the answer to all your prayers," Klaus said; Ashley and Stefan exchanged a look.

"Rebekah is at the grill with Kol so I presume you're going with Stefan right Ashley?" Klaus said with a half smirk, half glare on his face; Ashley shifted uncomfortably and stood up with Stefan and Stefan and Ashley left.

* * *

Stefan and Ashley got to the grill and saw Rebekah and Kol sitting at a table across from each other. Stefan sat by Rebekah and Ashley sat down by Kol.

"Hi," Ashley said smiling at Kol.

"Hello darling," Kol said returning the smile and put his arm around Ashley's shoulder.

"Klaus wants me to fake peace with you so you'll talk about the five," Stefan told Rebekah.

"I bet. Don't help him. He'll just betray you. It's what he does," Rebekah warned Stefan.

"Well forget helping him. Help me and Ashley instead," Stefan said.

"Why? You hate me more than he does," Rebekah stated talking to Stefan.

"Because we wanna figure out what he's up to," Ashley answered.

"And plus we can give you the one thing he won't," Stefan said.

"And what's that?" Rebekah asked.

"A clean state," Stefan replied. "I'm not saying I'm willing to forgive you for what you did to Elena but I'm willing to set it aside and start over."

"Why would you do that?" Rebekah asked.

"Because you're a good person but nobody sees that. That's one of the things you two have in common," Ashley said with a small smile and a nod towards Kol; Kol smiled.

"Well Rebekah, what do you say? Want to go have a family meeting with our brother?" Kol asked Rebekah with a smirk; Rebekah returned the smirk.

"I think that's a good idea," Rebekah said; Rebekah, Kol, Stefan and Ashley all exchanged looks.

* * *

Kol, Rebekah, Stefan and Ashley then returned back to the Mikaelson mansion and they walked into the room where Klaus had Connor.

"Are you feeling alright mate? Are the shackles too tight?" Klaus asked Connor then smirked because he could sense that the Salvatore siblings and his siblings had walked into the room. "Welcome home Kol and Rebekah."

"Is this a trick? How do you know he's one of The Five? Where's his bloody tattoo?" Rebekah asked her brother.

"The tattoos aren't visible," Ashley answered for Klaus.

"That figures," Kol stated inching closer to Ashley; Klaus sent a glare to Kol but smirked.

"Lets eat," Klaus announced then walked out of the room.

Ashley, Kol, Rebekah and Stefan all exchanged looks.

"This is the first time he's seeing us as a couple," Kol said to Ashley.

"Yeah it's my first time too so keep it PG-13 okay buddy?" Stefan said patting Kol's shoulder then walked out; Ashley smiled.

"This is going to be fun," Rebekah said with a small smirk.

"Could be worse. It could be Damon," Ashley said and Kol chuckled.

The three of them walked out into the dining room where Klaus and Stefan were already seated. Rebekah sat across from Klaus and Ashley and Kol sat across from Stefan. The food was already on the table.

"Rebekah love, eat your veggies," Klaus said pointing at Rebekah's plate.

"I'm not eating until you apologize," Rebekah stated not amused.

"For which indiscretion? There have been so many," Klaus said with a small smile.

"You broke my neck," Rebekah said.

"You threw away Elena's blood so I can't make any more hybrids," Klaus argued back.

"Because you took me for granted," Rebekah countered.

"That's what big brothers do sweetheart. Ask Ashley. She has two of them," Klaus said smirking at Ashley; Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Don't talk about my girlfriend's family," Kol warned Klaus.

"Well she would be my girlfriend if you hadn't come out of nowhere and stole her from me," Klaus argued back.

"Woah! What?" Ashley asked shocked; Stefan sighed.

"Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now," Stefan said; Ashley gave him a look. "You're an exception."

"Alright fine. I'm sorry. I often forget how delicate you are. Forgive me?" Klaus asked with a small smile; they all turned their attention to Rebekah.

"I'll take it under consideration," Rebekah responded.

"Okay good. Now why don't you tell us about Rebekah's hunter?" Stefan asked turning his attention to Klaus.

"Alexander?" Kol questioned.

"That's the one. Nice chap for going the obvious issues. He was looking for creatures of the night which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings," Klaus explained.

"So that's what this is about? A weapon?" Stefan asked.

"Not just any weapon," Rebekah replied.

"Rebekah love, don't get ahead of the story," Klaus stated not wanting her to reveal the secret yet.

"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?" Stefan questioned; Kol smirked a little.

"Do you know what it is?" Ashley asked Kol.

"Yes I do darling," Kol answered.

"Kol, wait for the rest of the story," Klaus ordered.

"And since when are you my boss?" Kol asked Klaus with attitude; Klaus glared at Kol.

"Boys enough," Rebekah warned.

"Okay why don't we just get right to the point of this story?" Stefan asked.

"Not quite yet. Because in order to find this weapon we need to solve the puzzle which seems to have disappeared," Klaus responded.

"What puzzle?" Ashley asked; Klaus gave her a look. "The tattoo. What is it?"

"A map leading us to its treasure," Klaus answered.

"The tattoo isn't going to do us any good if we can't see it," Kol stated.

"We can't. But someone else can," Klaus said smiling; he then looked back at one of his maids. "Will you tell the hybrid to bring him in love?"

The maid leaves the room and Stefan and Ashley exchange looks knowing he's gotta be talking about Jeremy.

"You see the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of these mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one other person that could see them," Klaus stated smirking at Stefan and Ashley.

Just then a hybrid drags Jeremy into the room and as soon as he does Stefan speeds over to them but Klaus beats him there and stands in front of Stefan stopping him.

"I wouldn't," Klaus warned Stefan. "Lucky for us young Jeremy here is a bit of an artist."

"I'm not helping you with anything," Jeremy said; the hybrid takes the Gilbert ring off Jeremy and tosses it to Klaus.

"Oh I'm afraid you are," Klaus said holding up Jeremy's ring.

"Klaus this isn't right!" Ashley snapped.

"Yes Niklaus this is low, even for you," Kol said agreeing with Ashley.

"Look at you, you lovesick fool. Kol, you'd be all for this if Ashley wasn't against it. Pathetic," Klaus said shaking his head. "Take the young lad into see the hunter."

The hybrid dragged Jeremy into the other room and Klaus and Stefan sat back down at the table.

"So tell us more about this tattoo," Stefan said trying to get back on the topic.

"Alexander was unwilling to tell us anything. Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate. Isn't that right?" Klaus asked Rebekah as she shifted uncomfortably as he went on with the story.

"My sister's boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn and me," Klaus stated; Kol looked down and Ashley put her hand on his hand.

"How was I supposed to know?" Rebekah asked; Klaus held up his glass of wine.

"Cheers to my sister's uncanny ability to choose men," Klaus said sarcastically.

"Ease up. It's not her fault she fell in love. The heart wants what it wants whether it's good for us or bad for us," Ashley somewhat snapped at Klaus; Klaus looked at her.

"I don't think you're talking about Rebekah," Klaus said looking between her and Kol.

"Hold up. I thought the daggers didn't work on you because of your werewolf side," Stefan said changing the subject.

"They don't," Klaus said smirking looking at Stefan. Klaus started to explain more to the story and he got more worked up the more he went on with it. "Go ahead Rebekah tell them. Tell them what the hunter told you that the tattoo leads to. What's this great weapon that could bring about the end of the vampire species?"

Ashley and Stefan looked at Rebekah.

"A cure. He said there was a cure," Rebekah answered; Stefan and Ashley looked at each other shocked.

Klaus stood up and started to walk into the other room. The others followed suit.

"There is no cure for vampirism," Stefan said still shocked from the news he had just been given.

"It's the truth Stefan," Rebekah said.

"Then why wouldn't you have searched for it and found it?" Stefan snapped.

"Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body. The map was gone, the brotherhood of the five extinct. In 900 years there was not a whisper of a hunter until our friend in there showed up in town," Klaus explained.

"Well now we have a map. What do we do next?" Rebekah asked.

"We don't do anything. You can't be trusted little sister. You'll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty," Klaus said then started chuckling. "I mean it's pathetic really, isn't it? How she continues to hand her heart to any many who shows her a hint of affection! You think she would've learnt by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception!"

"Klaus enough!" Ashley snapped at him.

"Yeah Niklaus, lay off," Kol said.

"Oh Kol, you're as pathetic as Rebekah. Always agreeing with Ashley now. You're like her puppet," Klaus said with a small smirk on his face.

"You know what Niklaus, I haven't learned anything! Instead I stayed with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life. You know what? You can judge Kol and Ashley's relationship all you want but we all know that Kol is the better man for her than you!" Rebekah snapped; Stefan looked down and Kol put his arm around Ashley. "You want the cure for Elena don't you? So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. That's why you brought Stefan here! Because you knew he'd help you even though he hates your guts! You know what? You can shove your cure."

Rebekah walked out of the room and out of the house. Klaus looked at Stefan, Ashley and Kol smirking.

"Well I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off," Stefan said.

"She never would have told me what I needed to know. But she'll tell you," Klaus said to Stefan.

"What do you need me to find out?" Stefan asked hesitating.

"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it," Klaus answered.

"The sword," Ashley replied.

"Correct Ashley. Rebekah knows where it is and your brother here is gonna get her to tell him," Klaus said with a smirk.

"Nik, this isn't right," Kol stated.

"Shut it Kol," Klaus said then looked at Stefan. "You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that's going to destroy her. You can call it a deal with the devil if you'd like but you know you won't walk away from it."

* * *

About an hour passed and it was just Kol and Ashley sitting in the Mikaelson mansion.

"I can't believe Klaus was treating Rebekah like that. I mean, me, Stefan and Damon have our fair share of arguments but it's like Klaus just tries to make Rebekah feel like crap," Ashley said.

"That's how Niklaus is. That's how he's always been and I honestly don't think he's ever going to change," Kol explained with a sigh; Ashley linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder.

Just then Klaus walked into the house.

"Well isn't this cozy?" Klaus asked with a smirk.

"Klaus, leave us alone," Kol said irritated with his brother.

"Not quite yet little brother. I have news for you two. Rebekah gave Stefan the location of the sword. It's in Italy. Kol, pack your bags. We are heading there tonight," Klaus ordered.

"You're kidding right?" Kol asked.

"Nope. And you will be staying in Italy for a few months to do some errands and family business there so like I said, pack your bags," Klaus stated with a smirk.

"You're going to make him stay in Italy for a few months?" Ashley asked in disbelief.

"Yes. But don't worry love, you'll still have your brothers," Klaus replied with a smirk.

"Where's Rebekah?" Kol asked wanting to talk to his sister.

"Oh she's no longer in the land of the living right now," Klaus explained.

"You daggered her?!" Ashley asked.

"Yes love," Klaus answered.

"Niklaus, this is an all time low for you! How could you?!" Kol snapped at his brother.

"Kol, go up and pack. Now," Klaus ordered.

"Since when do I take orders from you?" Kol countered; Klaus smirked.

"Since you know I can put you down with Rebekah in a matter of seconds," Klaus threatened; Kol glared at him and went upstairs to his room.

"Well love, now that we're alone-" Klaus started to say before he was cut off by Ashley punching him in the face; she didn't say anything and just walked up to Kol's room. Klaus smirked.

Ashley walked into Kol's room and standing by the window and just staring outside. She didn't say anything and just walked up to him and hugged him tightly. He smiled at the gesture and wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I don't want you to go," Ashley said.

"I know. But I'll be back before you know it darling. The time will fly. You'll be keeping yourself occupied with your brothers anyway," Kol stated rubbing her back.

"But what if my brothers are driving me crazy and I just wanna talk to you?" Ashley asked.

"Then I'm only a phone call away," Kol said smiling down at Ashley; she smiled back and leaned in and kissed him passionately.

"I love you," Ashley said.

"I love you too darling," Kol responded.

"Don't meet some Italian girl and fall madly in love with her okay?" Ashley said with a small smile; Kol chuckled.

"Never," Kol said honestly and kissed her again. "You should get back to your house. Klaus will want to leave ASAP."

"Okay. Will you call and text me?" Ashley asked.

"Everyday," Kol said; Ashley smiled and gave him one last kiss. "I'll miss you."

"I miss you already," Kol said.

Ashley gave him a small smile and hesitantly walked out of the room. She walked back downstairs and got ready to walk out the door.

"Ashley," Klaus said stopping her; Ashley looked at him. "Me and Stefan already had this chat but just so you know, the news of the cure is going to stay between me, you, Stefan, and Kol. You're just lucky I didn't dagger Kol like I did Rebekah."

Ashley rolled her eyes.

"That doesn't make you any more of a good brother," Ashley said and walked out; Klaus looked down.

* * *

About ten minutes had passed and Ashley returned back to the boarding house to find Damon standing in the living room.

"You're back," Ashley said somewhat shocked to see Damon there.

"Yep," Damon replied. "Where were you?"

"With Kol," Ashley replied honestly. "Where's Stefan?"

"With Elena," Damon answered. "She kind of struggled today so he's probably comforting her."

Ashley nodded. She then surprised Damon because she walked up to him and hugged him. He returned the hug and smiled.

"What's this for?" Damon asked.

"Because I missed you. And I realized today that, yes, I have two annoying, overprotective brothers but they are pretty amazing and I'm lucky to have such caring brothers," Ashley answered and looked at Damon.

"Aw well if you ask me, me and Stefan are lucky to have such an amazing sister like you," Damon said.

"I love you Damon," Ashley said.

"I love you too Ash," Damon replied.

"Okay I'm heading to bed. Goodnight," Ashley said and kissed Damon's cheek.

"Goodnight," Damon said smiling.

Ashley walked up to her room and just collapsed on her bed. She rolled over on her side and looked at her nightstand where there was a picture of her, Damon and Stefan. She smiled to herself and fell asleep staring at the picture.


	14. The Killer

**Thank you to anyone who reads, reviews, favorites or follows this story! I had a lot of fun writing this and there are many reasons why. Enjoy this chapter! :)**

_The Killer_

The next morning Ashley was sitting in her room looking at her background picture on her phone which was of her and Kol. She heard a knock on her door so she looked up and saw Stefan standing there.

"Hey," Ashley said with a smile on her face.

"Hey. We need to go over to Klaus's house," Stefan stated.

"Why?" Ashley asked.

"I'm not sure. He sent me a text saying that we had a problem so I asked him what and he said to go over to his house and we'd see what the problem was," Stefan explained; Ashley rolled her eyes and stood up.

"That man is a serious pain in the ass," Ashley said; Stefan smiled.

"Yes he is," Stefan agreed.

Ashley and Stefan left the house and went to Klaus's house. They walked in to see Klaus's hybrid, Nate, laying on the ground dead and Connor nowhere to be seen.

"Oh that's not good," Ashley said; Stefan just looked at her and pulled out his phone. He dialed Klaus's number and Klaus picked up the phone.

"Hello mate," Klaus said to Stefan.

"How the hell did Connor escape?" Stefan asked putting the phone on speaker.

"I don't know but pointing fingers isn't going to help me. You're going to help me," Klaus explained.

"Well he could be anywhere now," Ashley stated.

"Think Salvatores. He took the hybrid's head which means he wants werewolf toxin," Klaus said.

"Which means he plans to stay in Mystic Falls to kill vampires," Stefan said putting it together.

"Which is a pity since I'm half a world away digging up a dead hunter. You'll have no access to my blood. His tattoo is our only map to the cure so if your task is quite simple. Find him, catch him, and above all, keep him alive. He's no good to us dead," Klaus explained.

"Damon's looking everywhere for him. If they cross paths..." Ashley said trailing off.

"Well then love, you need to keep Damon in check," Klaus stated.

"It'd be a lot easier if we could just tell him the truth," Stefan replied.

"You trust Damon with the cure? I imagine he prefers Elena the way she is," Klaus said trying to get under Stefan's skin.

"Nice try Klaus but I trust Damon a hell of a lot more than I trust you," Stefan countered.

"And I trust no one which is why my sister is lying daggered in a box. The more who find out about the cure, the more who will go after it. Nations have gone to war over this. You mark my words. Tell one soul and I will throw the hunter's sword in the Mediterranean and we can end this quest right now. Am I understood?" Klaus asked.

"Whatever," Stefan answered.

"Klaus, is Kol-" Ashley started to ask but Klaus cut her off.  
"He's not around love. He's running a few errands for me. Is talking to me not good enough?" Klaus asked with a smirk; Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Goodbye Klaus," Ashley said then nodded at Stefan; Stefan hung up the phone. Stefan and Ashley looked at each other and sighed.

"You know this is going to be really hard to keep from Damon right?" Ashley asked Stefan.

"I know. But we're going to have to try," Stefan said putting his arm around his little sister.

* * *

About an hour has passed and Ashley and Stefan had both gotten text messages from the hunter saying he has hostages at the grill. They then got a text from Damon telling them where everyone was meeting. Stefan and Ashley walked into the house they were meeting in and Damon, Elena, and Tyler were already there.

"Stefan," Elena said getting up from the couch and walking over to Stefan and hugging him.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Damon asked them.

"Coming up with a plan," Ashley responded.

"Yeah we have a plan. The plan is that I'm going to rip Connor's heart out and I'm going to feed it to him," Damon replied.

"That's not a plan. We need to be careful. Connor has Jeremy and who knows how many other hostages," Stefan said.

"Hints the open heart surgery," Damon said with a grin.

"Damon's right. Connor's strong but he's not going to be able to take all of us," Elena stated.

"I called in the hybrids to help too," Tyler said; Stefan and Ashley looked at each other.

"My mom put squad cars blocking the streets. They're saying it's a faulty gas line. We're good to go," Caroline said walking in.

"Good. Great. No cops, no witnesses, no reason to wait around," Damon stated.

"Alright hold on. You're not all going," Stefan said trying to stall the plan.

"He shot me like nine times. If we're killing him, I want in," Tyler said.

"He's got Jeremy. I'm going," Elena stated.

"Listen nobody is going anywhere until I figure out what we're walking into," Stefan said.

"Until you figure it out? Is that where you been all morning? Out buying bossy pants?" Damon said with a little attitude.

"Damon, I think Stefan's right. This guy's known for setting traps. We'd be pretty dumb to walk into one. Especially if he has werewolf venom," Ashley said.

"Does he?" Elena asked.

"He's had it before," Stefan stated.

"Fine. Fine. Stefan, you wanna take some time to replan this out? You get one hour. But we're gonna need some extra help so where the hell's the wicked witch of the west?" Damon asked referring to Bonnie.

"She can't do magic," Caroline said.

"Really? Well call her, tell her Jeremy's life is in danger. Maybe that'll bring her out of retirement," Damon said walking out; everyone just looked at each other.

* * *

About 45 minutes had passed and Stefan and Ashley were walking on the streets to Alaric's apartment building. Stefan was on the phone to Klaus.

"You expect me to care about bloody hostages?" Klaus asked like it was obvious.

"Well you should. Damon does and so does Caroline, Tyler and Elena. If any of them get to Connor then you just wasted a trip to Italy. I can buy us some time but Damon's getting antsy so if you want Connor alive, you better get your hybrids on board with my plan," Stefan explained then hung up the phone.

"Stefan, this is bad. Damon's not going to stop. What are we supposed to do?" Ashley asked.

"I know. But I know what we're going to have to do. Just follow my lead okay?" Stefan asked.

"Okay," Ashley said hoping that everything would turn out okay.

Ashley and Stefan walked into the apartment building and went up to Alaric's old loft.

"Did you find the tunnel map?" Stefan asked.

"Got it. It was in his weapons drawer with seven stakes, a crossbow and the last remaining vervain in Mystic Falls," Damon responded. "So how about we get this party started?"

"Not yet. Klaus is sending one of his men. He'll take the front and you, me and Ashley can take the tunnels," Stefan explained.

"Since when do we team up with Klaus?" Damon asked.

"I already told you. Connor has werewolf venom. We need someone to draw his fire. The hybrids are immune to it so they're out best bet," Stefan said.

"How are you even sure he has werewolf venom? Why is Klaus involved, Stefan? The last thing we need is any of the damn Originals involved in this," Damon said.

"Hey easy, one of those damn Originals happens to be my boyfriend," Ashley said referring to Kol.

"Don't refer to that egotistic vampire as your boyfriend Ash," Damon said.

"He is my boyfriend Damon," Ashley said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"We don't have time for this you two. Look, stop being paranoid Damon," Stefan said.

"Start telling the truth Stefan," Damon countered.

"Damon stop. Stefan is telling the truth," Ashley said defending Stefan.

"What's with you today Ashley? Spend all morning with Stefan and suddenly you're against everything I say. Funny how that works huh?" Damon said skeptically and looked at Stefan; Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Oh Damon, don't get all jealous. Newsflash, you're not the only brother I have," Ashley said getting an attitude with Damon.

"I know that Ashley. I just wanna know why Klaus is involved. So I'm gonna ask again. Why is Klaus involved? Did Klaus compel you? Did Kol compel you?" Damon asked; that was the final straw for Ashley. She got worked up and slapped Damon across the face. He looked at her with pure shock on his face. She couldn't believe what she just did...she had never hit Damon in her whole life. She felt tears fill her eyes and she looked at Stefan.

"I'll be out in the hall when we're ready," Ashley managed to say before her voice cracked; she started to walk away.

"Ash wait," Elena said trying to shake the shock from her own voice; Ashley ignored Elena and walked out. She held her stomach as she tried to balance herself against the wall. She then realized that she couldn't hold it together any longer and she slid down the wall crying. She sat on the floor as she cried wishing that Kol was back in Mystic Falls.

Back inside Alaric's loft, Stefan, Damon and Elena still stood shocked from what just happened. Stefan knew they didn't have much time so he knew he had to break the silence.

"Look, this is the best way to get everyone out," Stefan said.

"You know what? Screw your plan. I'll kill Connor myself," Damon said with his voice about to break from what Ashley just did. He started to walk away when suddenly Stefan stabbed him with a vervain dart and Damon fell unconscious.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled shocked.

Stefan dragged Damon over to the couch and laid him down.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Damon had the right idea with the tunnels. But I'm not going to go in there if I can't count on him to do it my way," Stefan explained.

"If you can't count on him? You just vervained him," Elena said still in shock from what's been going on.

"Do you think he cares about April or Matt? He'll get Jeremy out for you but then he'll go after Connor no matter who might get hurt," Stefan stated.

"Then I'm coming with you," Elena said.

"You're not coming with me Elena," Stefan countered.

"You need my help," Elena argued back.

"What if Connor attacks and you have to defend yourself? What if you kill him? The guilt will wreck you," Stefan said.

"You don't think that I'm afraid of that? Of course I am. Stefan I'm barely holding it together. If Jeremy gets hurt-" Elena started to say before Stefan cut her off.

"I'm going to get Jeremy out okay? Besides, I'll have Ashley with me too. We'll save your brother Elena. I promise," Stefan said; Elena nodded remembering Ashley was going with Stefan. The two shared a kiss then Stefan walked out of the loft. He looked down at Ashley who had stopped crying. She looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Listen, about what happened-" Stefan started to say but stopped when Ashley stood up.

"Let's just do this," Ashley said and walked away; Stefan sighed and followed her.

Ashley and Stefan left the apartment building and went to the tunnel. They heard a pounding and figured it was coming from the grill so they picked up the pace and soon found themselves in the kitchen of the grill. Matt and April had their backs to Stefan and Ashley so they had no idea they were there. They heard an explosion and Stefan and Ashley knew that Klaus's hybrid just got blown up. April turned around and got ready to scream because she didn't expect anyone to be behind them. Ashley held up her finger to her mouth and shushed her quickly. Matt turned around and looked at them. Stefan handed his phone to Matt because it had a map on it.

"Follow this map. It'll take you to Caroline," Stefan instructed Matt.

"Okay. Guys, that guy's armed. If you go out there, he's gonna kill Jeremy," Matt warned Stefan and Ashley.

"No one's killing anyone. Go," Ashley said; Matt nodded and grabbed April and they ran out.

Ashley got ready to walk out of the kitchen but Stefan grabbed her arm which made Ashley look at him.

"Look, I know you can take care of yourself but what happened with you and Damon back there-" Stefan started to say before Ashley cut him off.

"I don't wanna talk about it Stefan," Ashley said feeling the urge to cry.

"I know but all I'm saying is keep your head clear and stay safe okay? Stay with me," Stefan said; Ashley nodded. Stefan gave her a small smile and nodded to her.

Stefan and Ashley slowly walked out of the kitchen, Stefan leading. Connor quickly saw them and grabbed Jeremy and started to shoot in Stefan and Ashley's direction. Stefan and Ashley quickly sped over behind the bar and hid behind it.

"You good?" Stefan asked Ashley in a whisper; she nodded and he returned the nod and started yelling to Connor. "Connor, you don't have to do this."

"Stefan," Jeremy said in a worried tone; Ashley and Stefan could hear a beeping so they knew Jeremy was standing on a bomb.

"Connor, we can end this right now. Just put down the gun and come with me and Stefan," Ashley stated.

"Sure. Come out. I'll hand the gun over," Connor said.

"Think about this. No one has to die. We'll tell you everything you need to know," Stefan said.

"I don't make deals with vampires!" Connor snapped.

"Listen to me, if you die right now then your whole life, all that killing, it will all be for nothing. We can give you the truth. Just put down the gun and let Jeremy go," Stefan pleaded.

"Please don't hurt him," Elena said running in; Ashley and Stefan looked at each other with shock knowing that Elena was in there.

"If you come any closer, he's dead," Connor said pointing the gun at Jeremy.

"Elena get out of here," Jeremy ordered; Elena ignored him.

"He's the only family that I have left. Just let him go," Elena begged.

"You hear that? Your girl's watching," Connor said directed to Stefan. "I will shoot the boy right in front of her! On the count of three! 1! 2!"

Ashley and Stefan nodded and stood up and came out from the bar with their hands up surrendering. Connor aimed at them and just when he did, Elena sped over to Connor and tackled him. The gun went off and shot Jeremy in the shoulder. Elena threw Connor on the ground and started hitting him. Ashley sped over to Jeremy and sped him off the bomb before he fell off it. Ashley threw them both over a table and protected Jeremy from the bomb.

"Jeremy?" Elena said looking up.

Connor threw Elena off him and got on top of her and tried staking her. Ashley stood up to see Stefan coming towards her. She looked over at Elena and Connor.

"Stefan!" Ashley yelled referring to what was going on with Elena and Connor; Stefan sped over to Connor and grabbed him. He grabbed Ashley and sped off with them both.

They all went to the tunnels and started walking through the tunnels.

"You okay Ash?" Stefan asked still holding on to Connor.

"Yeah I'm good," Ashley answered; Stefan nodded and kept a tight grip on Connor as they walked. Connor was groaning in pain.

"Good work brother," Damon said standing in a corner of the tunnel; they all looked at him.

"It's over Damon. I have him," Stefan replied.

"Not after what I just went through. I had to punch through a boiler room basement into a septic tank to get to this stupid tunnel. But none of that even amounts to getting slapped by my own sister," Damon said with a lot of emotion in his voice.

Ashley looked down hearing the disappointment, hurt and anger in Damon's voice. She just wanted to get out of there.

"I'm taking him with me," Stefan responded.

"That's the thing. You're not. I don't know what you're up to or what Klaus has over you but even if I have to go through you, I'm gonna kill him...and I'll go through both of you if I have to," Damon said looking from Stefan to Ashley; Damon started walking towards them.

"You better back off Damon," Stefan warned.

"Why? Because Klaus wants him alive?" Damon asked.

"This has nothing to do with Klaus. You're just gonna have to trust us on that," Stefan said.

"I don't want to, don't have to, not gonna. Give him to me brother," Damon said with his voice low.

"Run as fast as you can," Stefan said to Connor as he gave him a push and Connor ran off; Damon snapped.

"Are you kidding me?! You working with Klaus now?! You get sucked into the Mikaelson trap just like our gullible sister did?!" Damon yelled not even acknowledging what he was saying because he was so mad; his eyes widened when he realized what he had just said. He looked at Ashley and she just looked broken. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Stefan looked at her and nodded. She knew that meant he would explain everything to Damon and she took off running and ran out of the tunnel as fast as she could.

* * *

**Ashley's POV**

_I felt like I couldn't breathe and I just needed to get air. I ran out of the tunnel and sat on the first bench I found. I couldn't believe Damon had just called me gullible. He's never been mean to me, even when I was mean to him. I don't know what happened today. Everything spiraled out of control so fast. I feel like I should apologize to Damon for slapping him but then again, I want to hit him again for what he said to me. He didn't understand what me and Kol have. Nobody did. I just wanted and needed to talk to Kol. I took out my phone and dialed his number and prayed with every ring that he would pick up and I would hear his comforting, sweet voice. Instead I got his voicemail and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I cleared my throat so I could leave a message without him knowing anything was wrong._

"Hey Kol. It's me. Um, it's been a really rough day and if you could call me back or even text me sometime tonight if you're not busy, that'd be great. I just really wanted to hear your voice and tell you that I really miss you. I can't wait till you come home. I love you Kol," I managed to choke out before I hung up. _I immediately put my head in my hands and sat on the bench and cried. I stopped crying when I felt my phone vibrate. I looked down hoping to see Kol's name but instead read a text from Stefan saying that Elena killed Connor and that he and Damon were going to the woods to help her bury him. He also said Damon knew about the cure. I just wanted to go home so I quickly responded back to Stefan and stood up and walked home. On the walk home I thought about how angry Klaus would be knowing that her and Stefan let Connor die. I reached my house and went inside and went to my room. I just laid on my bed and thought about everything that had happened that day. A little while passed and I heard the front door open and shut from downstairs. I knew it was Damon because if it was Stefan, he would've came upstairs to my room. I sighed knowing it was just me and Damon in the house. I then heard Damon go into Stefan's room. Soon after that, I heard the door open and shut again and I felt a surge of happiness knowing that Stefan was home. He came into my room, just like I knew he would. I sat up on the bed and just looked at him. He looked like he wanted to cry. I don't know what came over me but I jumped up and ran into his arms and cried. I could hear him start sobbing also. I leaned up to his ear and tried to catch my breath from crying._

"Damon is in your room," I managed to whisper into his ear; Stefan nodded and looked at me. He wiped away tears off my cheek.

"I'll go talk to him," Stefan whispered back and I nodded.

Stefan gave me a small smile and walked out. I listened as he walked into his room.

"How is she?" Damon asked referring to Elena.

"Who? Elena or our sister?" Stefan asked with a little attitude; Damon gave him a look. "Elena's angry, full of guilt, hasn't said a word to me other than she wants to be left alone. But you know, our sister's just like that too," Stefan went on; Damon quickly changed the subject.

"Did you figure out how to tell Klaus he lost a hunter and a hybrid?" Damon asked.

"He's on a plane which means I get to live for another six hours," Stefan replied.

"Well I got your back when he comes to murder you. Although, Ashley might be a little better at that considering he drools over her," Damon responded.

_I cringed when Damon mentioned my name. I was trying to tell his mood from the tone of his voice but I couldn't quite figure it out. I sighed and continued to listen. _

"Speaking of her, you haven't talked to her have you?" Stefan asked Damon.

"Nope," he responded.

"Why not? Don't you think you should apologize?" Stefan asked and he could tell Damon was getting uncomfortable.

"Well, she did start it first by smacking me across the face," Damon replied.

"Damon, grow up. Come on. You were insulting her relationship with Kol," Stefan defended me knowing I was listening.

"I don't have time for this," Damon said and walked out of the room.

_I could tell Damon exited the room and a part of me wanted to go into Stefan's room but I didn't want to run into Damon so I stayed in my room hoping Stefan would come in. Sure enough, Stefan walked in and I gave him a small smile._

"Thank you," I said to him giving him a hug.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry about what happened with you guys today," Stefan said wrapping his arms around me.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. But if you don't mind, I just wanna go to bed," I said just wanting to end this day.

"Yeah of course," Stefan said smiling at me; he kissed me on the forehead. "I love you Ash."

"I love you too Stef," I said returning his smile; he gave me one last smile and walked out of my room.

_I sighed and laid down on my bed. I just stared up at the ceiling wondering what was going to happen when Klaus got back into town and found out that Connor was dead and Elena killed him. My thoughts were interrupted by my phone vibrating. I looked at it hoping it was Kol but it was Caroline explaining the situation with Tyler's new werewolf friend, Hayley and how Caroline and Tyler were fake breaking up so that Tyler and Hayley can help unsire hybrids from Klaus. She also asked me if I wanted to hang out tomorrow and help her fake the breakup in front of Klaus. I thought about it and I knew it would get my mind off the Damon situation so I texted her back and said I would. She texted me a time and I put my phone down. I started to doze off when I heard my phone vibrate continuously. I knew that meant I was getting a phone call so I sat up quickly and answered my phone without even checking to see who it was._

"Hello?" I answered hoping it would be Kol.

"Hello beautiful," Kol said and I grinned so big; I had never felt so happy to hear his voice.

"Hi honey," I said starting to tear up because I was filled with so much emotion.

"What's wrong baby?" Kol asked sweetly.

"Nothing. It's just been such a long day and I just really miss you and needed to hear your voice," I said feeling a few tears drop from my eyes.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Kol asked.

"No. It's just stuff with me, Stefan and Damon. It's no big deal. I'm sure it'll all work out," I said even though I had a bad feeling that it wouldn't work out.

"Aw babe I wish I was there," Kol stated.

"Me too. But you'll be here soon enough right?" I asked just wanting him to be here with me now.

"Yep. The time will fly by," Kol said trying to make me feel better.

"I hope so. So how's it going with you?" I asked wondering what he was up to.

"Better now that I don't have Niklaus breathing down my neck," Kol said.

"Yeah...can't wait for him to get back here. Me and Stefan will never hear the end of it," I said knowing how Klaus is.

"He'll get over it. He has no right to blame you or your brother for this. Listen, I'm sorry honey but I gotta go," Kol said sadly.

"Okay. Text me in the morning?" I asked.

"I promise," Kol said making me smile.

"Okay. I love you," I said.

"I love you too," Kol responded.

_We both hung up and I put my phone under my pillow and rolled on my side. I looked at the picture of me, Stefan and Damon sitting by my bedside and I sighed. At least I knew I had Kol and Stefan to turn to while me and Damon were going through this rough patch. One thing was for sure, I couldn't wait for Kol to get home. I thought about that and found myself smiling as I drifted off to sleep._


	15. We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes

**Thank you to all my readers! I'm really enjoying writing these chapters lately so I will try to get more updates faster! I hope you enjoy this one!**

_We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes_

The next morning rolled around and Ashley was still sleeping. She had woke up a few times but she didn't want to get out of bed and face Damon. She awoke to a hand on her arm and she opened her eyes to see Stefan standing by her bed.

"What?" Ashley groaned not wanting to get up yet.

"I'm heading over to Elena's. She hallucinated seeing Connor and accidentally stabbed Jeremy in the neck. He had his ring on though. Anyway, she called Damon then Damon told me. He's already over there but do you wanna go with me?" Stefan asked knowing that Ashley's answer would probably be no.

"I can't. I have to go meet up with Caroline later and I'm not ready to see Damon yet," Ashley replied.

"I kind of figured. Okay. Well, call me if you need me," Stefan said giving his sister a kiss on the forehead; she smiled.

"Wow you're smiling," Stefan said returning the smile.

"Kol called me last night so that made me feel better," Ashley responded.

"I should have guessed. Well I'm glad you're happy," Stefan replied.

"Thanks Stef," Ashley said.

"You're welcome. See you later," Stefan said.

"Bye," Ashley said and Stefan left the room.

One hour passed and Ashley met up with Caroline close to Tyler's house.

"So how do you know Klaus is with Tyler?" Ashley asked Caroline.

"I was standing a few houses away waiting for him to go in there," Caroline explained.

"That's kinda creepy," Ashley said and Caroline smiled and gave her a small shove.

"Okay. You ready?" Caroline asked Ashley.

"Ready as I'll ever," Ashley said; Caroline and Ashley walked up to Tyler's house and Caroline knocked on the front door.

Seconds later Tyler opened the door and Caroline and Ashley walked in.

"I brought your stuff. Old laptop, your old jersey, the charm bracelet," Caroline said holding out a box.

"Care, this isn't a good time," Tyler said putting on an act.

"Just take it," Caroline said shoving the box to Tyler; Ashley looked into the other room and saw Klaus standing there. She avoided eye contact and walked a little closer.

"So you're Hayley? The werewolf slut?" Ashley asked putting on an act.

"And you're Ashley. The famous Salvatore sister who's dating an Original vampire," Hayley stated; Ashley faked smiled at her but it quickly fell when Klaus walked up to her.

"We need to talk," Klaus said to Ashley.

"I was trying to avoid that line but fine," Ashley said and looked at Caroline and winked without Klaus seeing; Caroline gave her a small nod.

Ashley and Klaus walked out of Tyler's house and started walking down the street.

"So let's hear it. Bitch at me for letting Elena kill Connor," Ashley said waiting for the lecture.

"I'm not going to yell at you," Klaus stated honestly.

"Why not?" Ashley asked confused.

"Because it wasn't your fault and I don't blame you. I actually blame Stefan more or less. Where is he?" Klaus asked.

"I'm not letting you hurt Stefan," Ashley said.

"I'm not going to hurt Stefan. But Elena killed Connor which means the hallucinations started and that means Stefan will be at Elena's house," Klaus said putting it together.

"Wait, what?" Ashley asked wondering how Klaus could know about the hallucinations.

"Just follow me love," Klaus said smirking; Ashley rolled her eyes.

Klaus took out his phone and dialed a number. Ashley wondered who he was calling but she sighed when her brother picked up on the other end.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Stefan said answering the phone.

"Well I can't imagine why with you ruining all my plans for a hybrid filled future," Klaus remarked.

"Well it wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have sworn me to secrecy," Stefan countered.

"Well life's full of if's Stefan. Let's talk about the positives shall we? The hunter was one of five. We'll find another. It may take centuries but we've got nothing but time right?" Klaus said with a smile; Ashley rolled her eyes.

"You're using your con voice today. Who's getting killed?" Stefan asked.

"Not you if that's what you're worried about. And not your sister," Klaus said smiling at Ashley; Ashley fake smiled at him.

"Are you with my sister right now?" Stefan asked worried about Ashley.

"As a matter of fact I am. But don't worry. She's fine. But I am worried about your beloved. Have the hallucinations started yet?" Klaus asked.

"What do you know about that? Did Ashley tell you?" Stefan asked curiously.

"No she didn't. But I'll tell you. Where are you?" Klaus asked already knowing where he was.

"I'm at her house," Stefan answered.

"How convenient. So am I," Klaus said with a smirk then he sped up to Elena's front door and knocked; Ashley rolled her eyes and walked about halfway to the door when suddenly it opened and Stefan walked out and walked up to her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Stefan asked worried about Ashley.

"No I'm fine," Ashley responded.

"I thought you were with Caroline?" Stefan asked.

"I was but her and Tyler needed some alone time. Klaus was at Tyler's and said he needed to talk to me so we left and here we are," Ashley explained; Klaus walked over to them.

"What do you know?" Stefan asked Klaus after he got to them.

"I killed the original five hunters remember? When one kills a hunter, there's a bit of a consequence," Klaus answered.

"What kind of consequence?" Ashley asked.

"Hunters were spelled by witches to kill vampires. If you prevent one from fulfilling his destiny then he'll take you down with him," Klaus replied.

"What do you mean? Connor's dead," Stefan said trying to make sense of what Klaus was saying.

"I mean Connor's death won't prevent him from making Elena his final vampire kill. She'll need to come with me now. I'll lock her up and keep her from any sharp wooden objects " Klaus explained.

"She's not going anywhere with you," Stefan argued.

"Well if we leave her alone she'll take her own life before the day is out," Klaus said.

"She's stronger than that," Stefan stated.

"Is she? Believe me it's for her own good," Klaus said.

"Stefan, maybe he's right," Ashley said; Klaus smirked.

"No Ash. He's not right," Stefan stated.

"Look, Elena just became a vampire. She's still trying to deal with that and her emotions are heightened. She just killed Connor and now she's hallucinating him which made her stab her own brother. She's not going to be able to take much more," Ashley said; Stefan got ready to say something when Elena came running out the door.

Klaus sped up to Elena and grabbed her and sped off with her. Damon then came running out the door.

"Elena!" Damon yelled; Stefan and Ashley looked at each other.

About twenty minutes later, Stefan, Damon, Ashley and Bonnie were in the living room of Elena's house. Damon and Ashley had not spoken to each other and the room was very tense.

"You lost her?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.

"Well lost is a very strong word. We just technically don't know where she is," Damon said trying to look at the bright side.

"I'm more worried about what Klaus said about this hunter's curse," Stefan said.

"How does Klaus even know about this?" Bonnie asked.

"How does Klaus know anything? The guy's like a billion years old," Damon said and Ashley tried to keep herself from snapping at Damon.

"He said it was a witch's curse," Ashley replied and everyone looked at Bonnie.

"You know that if I could do anything to help I would. But I-" Bonnie started to say but Damon cut her off.

"But nothing. Wave your magic wand, hocus pocus, be gone, hunter, ghosts, whatever," Damon said.

"The spirits won't let me do the magic I'd need to break the curse. And I can ask Shane for help. He knows everything about anything," Bonnie explained.

"Great. You two do your thing. Ashley come with me please," Stefan said and started to walk away.

"Where you going?" Damon asked.

"I'm gonna get her back," Stefan said and walked out the door; Ashley followed her.

"So what's your plan?" Ashley asked Stefan.

"This," Stefan answered and dialed his phone; he called Caroline and started explaining everything to her. "He's got Elena. I need Tyler to get the hybrids away so I can get her out. I know I'm probably asking the impossible."

"Actually you're not. Come to Tyler's and we'll explain," Caroline said; Stefan looked at Ashley.

"Me and Ashley will be right there," Stefan said then hung up.

A few minutes later, Ashley and Stefan were at Tyler's house.

"Hayley is the one who helped me break the sire bond. She showed me what to do. How to help. When she showed up here I thought it was just a coincidence but it turns out she's been helping one of them, her friend Chris. And she came to help us get the rest of them out from under Klaus," Tyler explained; Stefan looked at Ashley, Tyler and Caroline.

"So are you telling me that Chris isn't sired anymore?" Stefan asked.

"That's exactly what he's telling you," Caroline answered with a smile.

* * *

Ashley, Caroline, Tyler and Stefan all came up with a plan for Ashley to go to the grill while Klaus was there and distract him while Stefan broke Elena. Ashley walked into the grill and saw Klaus. She sighed and walked up to him.

"This place looks pretty good considering your hybrid got blown up in it," Ashley said sitting down by Klaus; Klaus smiled at her.

"Well it doesn't look near as good as you," Klaus said with a smirk; Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Did you forget I'm with your brother?" Ashley asked.

"Of course not love," Klaus said. "Speaking of brothers, why are you fighting with yours?"

"I'm not talking to you about what happens with me and my brothers," Ashley said trying not to think about what happened with her and Damon.

"Well love, I'm here for you. I do have a lot of knowledge when it comes to fallouts with brothers," Klaus said.

"I'm not having a falling out. And Kol is there for me. I don't need you there for me too. One Mikaelson already drives my brothers nuts," Ashley stated.

"Ah so is that why you and Damon are fighting? He doesn't like that you are with Kol?" Klaus asked.

"I'm not talking about this with you," Ashley said.

"Okay fair enough. So what brings you here love?" Klaus asked.

"I want you to give Elena back," Ashley answered honestly.

"Ah. They sent you to sweet talk me. Well good for them but I'm afraid I can't do it," Klaus replied.

"Why not?" Ashley asked.

"She needs my help," Klaus answered; Ashley sighed and rolled her eyes. "Look I'm not going to burden you considering you have all this other stuff going on right now with you and your brothers and you missing Kol."

"Klaus, that's none of your business. Neither is mine and Kol's relationship," Ashley stated.

"Well just know that if I was your boyfriend, I wouldn't have left you like Kol did," Klaus said.

"You gave him no choice," Ashley argued back.

"I still wouldn't have let anything get in the way of being back here with you," Klaus said looking at Ashley; Ashley just stared at him. "Can I at least offer you a drink?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Ashley said after considering it; Klaus smiled as Ashley sat down.

A few minutes passed and Ashley was trying to stall Klaus. She had a few texts from Stefan so she checked them and saw that Stefan got to Elena but she escaped from them. Ashley nervously looked at Klaus and smiled.

"So here's the thing. I didn't just come here to try and get you to release Elena," Ashley said nervously.

"You don't say," Klaus said with a small smirk.

"I came here to distract you so that Stefan could go to your house and break her out which he did. And don't get mad but...then he lost her," Ashley said hesitating on the last part; Klaus instantly got mad and stood up really fast and started to walk away. Ashley stood up. "Klaus."

"Ashley, you're beautiful but if you don't stop talking, I will kill you," Klaus said to Ashley and got ready to walk off.

"They figured out how to stop the hallucinations," Ashley blurted out; Klaus stopped and looked at her.

"Alright you have ten seconds," Klaus said.

"Let me come with you and I'll explain it," Ashley said surprised that the words even came out of her mouth; Klaus hesitated but then gave in.

"Fine. Let's go," Klaus said and walked away; Ashley quickly followed him.

Ashley explained to Klaus how they another hunter needed to kill a vampire in order for the curse to be broken. It took some begging and a deal but Ashley convinced Klaus to give up one of his hybrids. Ashley called Stefan and her and Klaus headed over to Tyler's house. Chris was just getting ready to walk out the door when Klaus and Ashley walked in.

"Going somewhere?" Klaus asked and grabbed Chris by the throat and slammed him against a wall and held him there; Ashley stood by Tyler and Hayley was on the other side of him. "When I said don't let her out of your sight, what did you think I meant?"

"It's not his fault. It's mine. I was distracting him. It's my fault she got away!" Tyler said trying to bargain with Klaus.

"Then maybe you should be the one to die for it!" Klaus snapped not taking his attention off of Chris.

"No one has to die!" Hayley yelled; Klaus let go of Chris and sped over to Hayley.

"Did I not say mind your business?!" Klaus yelled at Hayley.

"Tyler's covering for me. I'm the one that let her go," Hayley lied.

"Hayley," Tyler tried reasoning with her.

"No. You want someone dead, go ahead. Kill me. I'd rather die anyway then end up as one of your sired little bitches," Hayley countered.

"Don't tempt me little wolf," Klaus said with a small smirk; he glanced at Ashley then turned his attention back to Chris. "Your existence is to serve me, to please me. Do you understand?"

"I'm sorry. I won't fail you again," Chris answered.

"No you won't. Get out of here," Klaus ordered moving over and standing beside Ashley.

Just as Chris was getting ready to walk out the door, Stefan sped in and stabbed Chris with a stake and he fell to his knees.

"No!" Hayley yelled.

Jeremy walked in holding an axe.

"Jeremy? What the hell man?!" Tyler asked shocked; Klaus smirked and Ashley nudged his arm because she knew he was smirking.

"I'm sorry," Stefan said and nodded to Jeremy; Jeremy brought the axe down on Chris's head and Hayley screamed.

"Excellent. I'll take care of this. Stefan, take care of your sister. She's had a long day," Klaus said looking at Ashley; Ashley looked at him.

"Come on Ash," Stefan said; Ashley nodded and her and Stefan left.

The whole ride home was silent and they got back to the boarding house and walked in. Damon was sitting on the couch and he looked at them. The room got tense with what had been happening between Ashley and Damon. Ashley looked at Stefan and gave him a hug.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight," Ashley said; Stefan returned the hug and Damon looked down.

"Ash, what did you have to do to get Klaus to give up a hybrid?" Stefan asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter," Ashley answered not wanting to tell the real reason.

"We all know Klaus isn't going to give up a hybrid just like that. What happened with you two?" Stefan asked.

"It's nothing," Ashley answered avoiding the reason again.

"Ashley!" Damon snapped standing up; Ashley looked at Damon shocked that he snapped at her; she looked at Stefan.

"I agreed to go on a date with him," Ashley answered.

"What?! Are you insane?!" Damon yelled speeding over to Ashley; Ashley wasn't going to back down.

"Save the lecture 'Mr. I fell in love with my brother's girlfriend...twice!' Now if you excuse me, I have to go try and break the news to Kol and hope that he doesn't break up with me!" Ashley snapped at Damon; Damon stood there shocked by the way Ashley was talking to him.

"You can smile now Damon. You didn't want me with Kol in the first place and now he probably won't wanna be with me anyway! I hope you're happy!" Ashley yelled and ran up to her room.

Stefan looked at Damon.

"Damon…" Stefan tried saying but Damon was walking out the door and slammed the door as he left; Stefan sighed knowing that everything was about to fall apart between him and Damon, Damon and Ashley, him and Elena, and probably Ashley and Kol.

* * *

Ashley sat on her bed and took out her phone. She hesitantly dialed Kol's number and held the phone up to her ear.

"Hello beautiful," Kol said answering the phone.

"Hey," Ashley said trying to force a smile.

"Are you okay honey?" Kol asked concerned.

"No. I'm not okay at all. I wish you were here," Ashley stated.

"I know. Me too sweetie. What's wrong exactly?" Kol asked; Ashley sighed and hesitated. "Ash, what is it?"

"I have to tell you something Kol. And you're not going to like it," Ashley replied.

"What?" Kol asked starting to feel himself get worked up; he almost knew it was going to have something to do with Klaus.

"Well since Elena killed Connor, she was stuck with the hunter's curse. In order to get rid of the curse, another hunter has to kill a vampire. Well we were in a short time limit and I was already with Klaus and I convinced him to give up one of his hybrids," Ashley explained feeling her nerves rise.

"And what did you have to do to convince him to give up a hybrid?" Kol asked knowing Klaus wouldn't just give up a hybrid.

"Kol, I'm so sorry. But it was the only way. It was for Elena," Ashley said hesitating.

"What was it Ashley?" Kol asked feeling himself get angry.

"I agreed to go on a date with him," Ashley replied; Kol said nothing. "Kol, please say something. Anything."

"I can't believe this. The first day alone with him and you're already going on a date with him?!" Kol yelled; Ashley started to tear up.

"It was to save Elena! I'm sorry. But nothing has happened or will happen. It's just one date," Ashley said trying to explain. "Besides, can you honestly tell me that you haven't been tempted to even look at another girl since you're in another country?"

"That's not even the point Ashley!" Kol snapped.

"And that also wasn't a no answer Kol," Ashley said sobbing.

"Ash, I think we need a break. At least until I get back," Kol replied.

"I think you're right. This is too hard. We go days without a meaningful conversation and that shouldn't happen," Ashley responded.

"I know. I'll just...I'll see you when I see you," Kol said and hung up; Ashley hung up also and sat on her bed and cried. She went downstairs hoping Stefan would be down there but she read a note on the table that said "Ash, went to Elena's. Be back later. Love you-Stefan". Ashley sighed and wiped her tears. She knew what she was about to do was probably going to be a huge mistake but at this point she didn't care. She felt lonely. She was fighting with Damon, Stefan wasn't around and her and Kol had just broken up. She left the house.

* * *

Ashley couldn't believe where she was at but for some reason, she felt safe. She hesitantly knocked on the front door of where she was at. She took a deep breath then slowly let it out when the door opened.

"Ashley? What are you doing here love?" Klaus asked curiously but with a small smirk.

"I um…Stefan isn't at the house and Damon stormed out and uh...Kol broke up with me," Ashley said feeling tears push in her eyes; Klaus's smirk slowly fell.

"Kol broke up with you?" Klaus asked not really surprised that Kol would do that but shocked that Ashley was coming to him with this; Ashley nodded. "Do your brothers know about this?"

"No. It just happened," Ashley responded.

"Come on in sweetheart," Klaus said and moved aside as Ashley came in; he closed the door and looked at Ashley. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No," Ashley answered.

"Ashley, I'm very sorry. I knew Kol would back out of this. He can never commit to anything," Klaus said not realizing how his words were hurting Ashley.

"Klaus, if I wanted an 'I told you so' I would've went to Damon," Ashley somewhat snapped at Klaus; Klaus slowly nodded.

"I'm sorry love. Can I get you anything?" Klaus asked her; she shook her head no. "Ashley, why are you here? Don't get me wrong. I'm flattered you would come here but why did you when your brothers don't even know what happened?"

"I don't know. Me and Damon got into a little spat before I told Kol about me agreeing to go on a date with you and I just...I don't know," Ashley answered honestly; Klaus nodded.

"Well, I'm here whenever you need me," Klaus said.

"Thank you. But I should just go back home. I wanna go to bed and forget this stupid day. Plus I have to get up early tomorrow to help Caroline decorate for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant but thank you Klaus," Ashley said wiping her tears.

"You're welcome love," Klaus said with a small smile.

"Bye," Ashley said not wanting to get sucked into Klaus's trap and she left.

"I will make him pay for this Ashley. I promise," Klaus said to himself angry at Kol.

Ashley went back home and neither Damon nor Stefan were there so she went straight up to her room and laid on her bed and instantly fell asleep not wanting to think about what new surprises tomorrow was going to bring.


End file.
